Kunooz Oman Holding, a leading player in the Sultanate’s mining, quarrying, transportation and construction materials sectors, has acquired a 20% stake in Associated Industries Limited SFZ, an Indian-owned company that operates a roughly 120,000 tonnes per annum capacity lime calcination plant in Salalah Free Zone. The acquisition is set to further strengthen Kunooz Oman’s credentials as a major player in the manufacture and export of calcined lime — a key ingredient in the production of steel, among other applications. It also comes ahead of Kunooz Oman’s eagerly awaited Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), slated during May-June 2017. Kunooz Oman’s associate company, Carmeuse Majan, already operates a lime calcination plant in Salalah Free Zone — a project set up in partnership with Belgium-based Carmeuse Holdings SA, one of the world’s largest producers of lime and related products. With the acquisition of a stake in Associated Industrial Limited, located adjacent to its facilities in the free zone, Kunooz is set to cement its position as a formidable player in the lime export business. (Oman Observer)