Qatar’s QIA eyes takeover of 20% stake in Vodafone Egypt
Qatar’s QIA eyes takeover of 20% stake in Vodafone Egypt. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is in advanced talks to buy up 20% of Telecom Egypt’s stake in Vodafone Egypt, as well as other state-held stakes in unlisted companies, in transactions worth up to 2.5 billion USD. Talks are still ongoing between Telecom Egypt and three different Arab sovereign funds — the Qatar Investment Authority, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi’s ADQ — for its stake, and that the two parties could come to an agreement by the end of the year. Telecom Egypt has yet to receive an official bid from any of the funds. (Bloomberg Asharq)
- Over on Wall Street, Cairo-born Swvl is reportedly considering combining (through a reverse stock split) or canceling some of its shares as it looks to avoid delisting due to low trading price
Swvl has consistently traded below USD 1.00 per share since 20 September and is currently changing hands at around USD 0.64 per share. According to Nasdaq delisting rules, the index sends a deficiency notice to any company whose share price remains below USD 1.00 for 30 consecutive business days. The listed firm then has 180 calendar days to get its share price back up above the minimum threshold, or face delisting. Most probably, Swvl has until Monday, 31 October to bring its share price up before the Nasdaq sends it a deficiency notice. (Bloomberg Asharq)
- Saybad Industrial Investment has abandoned its bid to take over EGX-listed paint company Paint and Chemical Industries (Pachin)
After not being able to do due diligence on the firm. Saybad had been an eager bidder for Pachin, upping its offer by as much as 14% to 16.50-18.75 EGP per share after the company rejected its initial bid. The revision came on the heels of a rival bid from Universal Building Materials and Chemicals (Sipes), which had said it would purchase up to all of the company’s shares at 17.50-18.50 EGP. (Enterprise).
- Orascom Investment Holding (OIH) plans to buy back as much as 10% of its shares over the next 12 months
The company said that the board has approved a plan that will see it purchase from the market up to 524.6 million shares between now and 17 October, 2023. OIH did not disclose how much it expects to spend on the buyback program. Enterprise was unable to reach a company representative for comment. OIH’s shares are down 9% YTD (better than the 15% dip of the wider EGX30). The company’s shares rose 3.9% during trading to close at 0.21 EGP yesterday. (Hapi Journal).
- E-finance secures 3 million USD financing for Nexta
E-finance for Digital and Financial Investments (EFIH) announced that it led a 3 million USD financing round for fintech startup Nexta. Through its investments in Nexta, e-finance seeks to create a new experience in digital banking services. Nexta offers banking services through mobile phones. It focuses on the simplification of money management services. (Arab Finance).
- Egypt-based Kenzz raises 3.5 million USD in funding round
Kenzz will use the proceeds of the funding to expand its product range to meet various consumer segments’ requirements, invest in the technology field, and launch a new app. The platform offers a mass e-commerce solution across Egypt and the MENA region and enables local manufacturers as well as small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) to scale up their businesses by providing access to remote data and insights. (Mubasher).
- B2B e-commerce platform MaxAB closed a 40 million USD pre-series B round to fund its expansion across the MENAP region
The round saw follow-on investments from early backers Beco Capital, 4DX Ventures, Flourish Ventures and Africa Platform Capital, as well as commitments from new investors Silver Lake, British International Investment (the UK government’s development finance institution) and DisruptAD (Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ’s venture platform). (WAYA)
- Egypt’s Trella secures 6 million USD debt financing from ALMA
Egyptian digital freight marketplace Trella recently raised 6 million USD in debt funding from ALMA Sustainable Finance and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Valued at 4.20 million USD, the guarantee facility will enable ALMA to deploy 6 million USD in debt financing and endorse Trella’s business in Pakistan and Egypt. ALMA’s debt financing, which is backed by DFC, will support the expansion of Trella’s platform for micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) truckers in Egypt and Pakistan. This step will enhance income for MSME truckers and cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in logistics. (WAYA)
- MNHD partners with DMC to develop Lake Park Project with 350 million EGP investments
Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (MNHD) has signed a partnership agreement with DMC to construct 13 buildings in Lake Park project in Taj City. The total investment of the project is valued at 350 million EGP and is forecast to be delivered within 18 months. The partnership further entails completing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work (MEP) and finishing the façades. (Hapi Journal).
- The House of Representatives’ general assembly gave its final approval yesterday to two separate bills of particular interest to car assemblers and distributors
The first is legislation that will see the establishment of a new council to set policy for local vehicle industry (including EV assembly), alongside a new fund for environmentally-friendly cars. The second is a bill that will allow Egyptians living abroad to import cars and get customs and fee rebates. (Al Mal).
- Egypt disburses 4.5 billion EGP to 633 exporting companies via immediate cash payment
These companies represent the first batch of the 5th phase of the initiative. The 4.50 billion EGP disbursement is part of the EGP 10 billion approved by the cabinet last August to be allocated to support exporters under the immediate disbursement of export subsidies initiative, reflecting the government’s commitment and keenness to promote the exporting sector and encourage it to expand in investment activities. (Mubasher)
- COP27 participants to be exempted from taxes
The ministry of Finance's announcement came as part of a presentation of the facilities that will be provided to participants in the conference, which will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh from 6 to 18 November. This move will ensure the re-exporting of these goods abroad, instead of providing bank letters of guarantee or cash insurance to facilitate customs procedures. Maait also approved the establishment of a customs yard at the Sharm El Sheikh International Airport to facilitate the completion of customs procedures on goods. It is worth noting that Maait previously issued a ministerial decree calling for the formation of a committee comprised leaders from Ministry of Finance, the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA), and ECA to ease the procedures of customs release and value-added tax (VAT) refund for foreigners. (Arab Finance)
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