US-based Quona Capital wants to acquire 70-80% of crisis-stricken B2B e-commerce startup Capiter

Newsletter

20 Sep 2022

US-based Quona Capital wants to acquire 70-80% of crisis-stricken B2B e-commerce startup Capiter in efforts to reform and restructure the company. Quona is a key investor in Capiter, having co-led its 33 million USD series A round with MSA Capital last year. Capiter was the talk of the town this past week after social media exploded with allegations of financial impropriety at the company after the board fired the company’s co-founders. Internal and external investigations are ongoing, while the news has sparked a wider conversation on what lies in store for the local startup scene as VC funding dries up on the back of rising borrowing costs and fears of a global slowdown. (Al Mal)

Global Ventures’ fintech fund reaches 105 million USD second close.
Local and international investors have committed around 20 million USD to Global Ventures’ Nclude’s second funding round, bringing the fintech-focused VC fund’s total capital to some 105 million USD. Dubai-based Global Ventures partnered with state-owned banks and firms to reach a first close of 85 million USD on the Nclude fund in March. Banque Misr is acting as an anchor investor, while NBE and Banque du Caire are on board as strategic investors, and e-Finance’s parent company e-Finance Investment Group also paid in to the initial raise. Nclude targets early- and growth-stage fintech startups based in Egypt, as well as regional firms looking to expand here. It has already invested in local startups including Khazna, Paymob, Lucky, and Mozare3. (Enterprise)
EGX in talks with up to 6 companies over IPOs.
The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) is in advanced talks with five or six companies that wish to list on the stock market soon. The bourse should first build local investors’ trust and boost liquidity and the market value through initial public offerings (IPOs) to be capable of attracting foreign investments. The energy, oil, fertilizers, and petrochemicals sectors will lead the market’s activities in the coming period.
It is worth noting that the increase in interest rates will be positively reflected on the fixed income instruments, however, it will affect the liquidity in the stock market.
The lack of liquidity is the main challenge for the EGX. The EGX is working on four factors to increase the market value and boost liquidity. These factors are encouraging government institutions with high financial solvency to pump higher amounts in the securities market, accelerating the IPO program of private companies in coordination with the government, and launching IPOs promotion campaigns abroad, especially in the GCC to attract new investors. Moreover, the factors include offering new solutions such as short selling and carbon trading. (Asharq Business)
Emirates Advanced Investments amends MTO price of Alex NMC.
The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has received a request from Emirates Advanced Investments to amend the offered price for the mandatory purchase offer (MTO) of Alexandria New Medical Center’s (Alex NMC) (AMES) to 48.62 EGP per share. The authority is currently studying the offer, under which Emirates Advanced is required to satisfy all the requirements included in the resolutions ruling the medical activities in Egypt. (Arab Finance)
Rameda buys 400,000 treasury shares to support the stock traded in the stock exchange.
Rameda plans to buy an amount of treasury shares in the range of 10%. The Tenth of Ramadan Pharmaceutical Company, Rameda, announced the implementation of the purchase of 400,000 treasury shares on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, as part of a plan to support the share price circulating in the market. hat purchases of treasury shares will take place from September 6 to December 6. It is scheduled that the operations will be conducted through the open market at the price of the security during the trading sessions in question through one of the brokerage companies operating in the market. (Alsharq Business)
QIA’s investment arm seeks investments in Egypt’s container terminals.
Egypt’s Ministry of Transportation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Maha Capital, the investment arm of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), for outlining mutual cooperation and initiating feasibility studies for investments in container terminals. The protocol will also allow for cooperation in developing and upgrading the West Port Said Container Terminal. The MoU was signed during a meeting between the Chief of Asia-Pacific and Africa Investments at QIA Faisal Bin Thani Al-Thani and the Minister of Transport Kamil El-Wazir. (Al Mal)
EFG Hermes kicks off 16th Annual One-on-One Conference in Dubai.
EFG Hermes Holding (HRHO) is hosting its 16th Annual One-on-One Conference in Dubai from September 19th to 22^nd. The four-day event takes place at Atlantis, The Palm hotel, under the patronage of Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The conference is being held under the theme of “Weathering Inflation – Finding Focus in FEM”, where it tackles "unparalleled prospects" for global institutional investors and active fund managers. (Al Mal)
Egypt targets up to 10 billion USD natural gas exports in FY 2022/23.
Egypt is seeking to export between 8.5 billion USD and 10 billion USD worth of natural gas during the fiscal year (FY) 2022/2023. In the last FY, Egypt exported 6.5 billion USD worth of gas. The government is working on rationalizing electricity consumption to increase the amounts of natural gas available for exports. The decline in temperature in September and October will support Egypt's efforts to save more of the natural gas supplied to power plants, which can be directed towards the liquefaction plants for export. (Al Mal)
Egypt exports 1.44 billion USD ready-made garments in 6 months.
Egyptian ready-made garment exports reached 1.44 billion USD in H1 2022 from 1.06 billion USD in H1 2021. Exports grew to 163 million USD in July 2022 from 160 million USD in July 2021. Moreover, exports amounted to 244 million USD in June 2022, up from 201 million USD in the same month a year earlier. (Arab Finance)
Egyptians' use of prepaid cards soar 120% in 3 years.
The number of prepaid cards in Egypt surged 120% during the last three years. The prepaid cards jumped to 28.3 million by the end of June 2022 from 12.9 million by the end of June 2019. The number of debit cards reached around 22.9 million in June 2022 from 16 million in June 2019. Credit cards increased in number to 4.8 million in June 2022 from 3.1 million a three-year earlier. Moreover, ATMs’ amounted to around 21,459 by June end, while point-of-sale (POS) machines reached 188,429. (Arab Finance)