Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in advanced talks to acquire Egypt’s state-owned United Bank in a deal that could be worth about 600 million USD

Newsletter

13 Dec 2022

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in advanced talks to acquire Egypt’s state-owned United Bank in a deal that could be worth about 600 million USD. The 620 billion USD Public Investment Fund would carry out the acquisition through Saudi Egyptian Investment Co. unit, which it set up earlier this year to invest in Egypt’s economy. Saudi Arabia is taking steps to provide financial support to countries in the region as it looks to bolster allies and cement new relationships. For Egypt, the kingdom has pledged 10 billion USD of investments in sectors such as health care, education and agriculture. It already scooped up state-owned stakes in four Egyptian publicly-listed companies for 1.3 billion USD and deposited 5 billion USD in the country’s central bank. (Bloomberg)

Egypt-based Engineering Consultants Group (ECG) was awarded a contract to design a multi-purpose hall for Saudi mega city Neom
Occupying a plot with a total area of 21,143 m2; the project comprises the design and build of a multi-purpose hall (BUA: 2,686 m2) that is used by the wider NEOM Existing Community 1 and New Community 2. The site is situated in the southwest part of the entire NEOM site, taking advantage of the ocean views. The building is designed to be visually appealing, which creates a pleasant and comfortable environment. (ECGSA Website)
Global tyre manufacturer Prometeon Tyre will invest 30 million EUR to upgrade its factory in Alexandria
The money will raise production at the factory, the statement said, without providing a figure. It currently has an annual production capacity of 1.1 mn tyres. The company said that a separate 25 million EUR has already been partly invested in R&D in Turkey, Italy and Egypt, but didn’t disclose how much was allocated to Egypt. Two million sqm of land is on offer to industrial investors. The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) has launched the fourth phase of an online industrial investment map offering more than 1k land plots to local and foreign investors. (Al Mal)
PTS Investments acquires EDAM Healthcare for six figures
PTS Investments Holdings announced the acquisition of EDAM Healthcare Services in a six-figure deal through its operating company in Egypt. The acquisition will enable PTS Investments to directly invest in the Egyptian, Middle East, and African markets in a group of sectors including healthcare, education, transportation, logistics, and energy. The company aims to increase the number of subscribers to its services to 2.5 million by 2023. (Arab Finance)
Egypt in talks with GCC SWFs for 3 billion USD desalination projects
The Egyptian government is in negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) for 3 billion USD water desalination projects. Talks are underway concerning the share of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) in the projects, which could range between 10% and 25%. The agreements are expected to be signed during the first half of 2023. The planned water desalination plants will be powered by renewable energy. The Egyptian government will buy the produced water. (Bloomberg Asharq)
Al Baraka Capital launches real estate investment arm
Al Baraka Capital for Financial Investments, a subsidiary of Al Baraka Bank Egypt (SAUD), announced the establishment and launch of Tanfeez for Real Estate Investment Company in the Egyptian market. Tanfeez is a company specializing in real estate investment and urban development. The launch of Tanzeef will be a quantum leap in the Egyptian real estate market through investing in the sector and offering sharia-compliant liquidity-saving programs for real estate projects. (Al Mal)
Egyptian steel factories suspend deliveries amid price hikes
Some steel factories suspended new deliveries this week. There were sufficient inventories in the market amid a sharp decline in demand for steel. The market awaited the finalization of the building violations settlement law by the government in the coming days. On a similar note, Ezz Steel (ESRS) factory had announced increasing supply prices by 1,000 EGP per ton to 21,450 EGP. Suez Steel, Egyptian Steel Group, and Misr Steel had also raised steel prices by 1,000 EGP per ton. It is worth noting that Egypt’s steel exports declined by 23% to around 1.016 billion USD during the first nine months of 2022 from 1.318 billion USD in the year-ago period. (Al Mal)
Execution of Egypt’s 11 billion USD wind farm to start in 2024
Works in Egypt’s 10-gigawatt wind farm are set to start in 2024 with a total cost of 11 billion USD. The project is expected to be completed in 2030 and will be executed by Egypt’s Infinity company and UAE’s Masdar. The mega wind farm will be the biggest in the world, enabling Egypt to export more power to Europe, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Libya. (Arab Finance)
Seven local and international companies bid in the Supply Ministry’s tender for three new cooking oil complexes
Maj. Gen. Ahmed Hassanien, chair of the state-owned Holding Company for Food Industries said. The ministry expects to award contracts within the next month for the three complexes in Alexandria, Sohag, and Sadat City, which are worth a combined 321 million USD. (Al Borsa News)
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will join other African leaders in Washington for the three-day US-Africa Leaders’ Summit which starts today
The event will be the first meeting of African heads of state and a US president in Washington since 2014 and the biggest international gathering in the city since before the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. As Russia and China strengthen their ties with the continent, the summit is part of the US’ play to increase its influence among African leaders following four years of disengagement under Donald Trump. The administration will offer a sweetener and declare support for making the African Union a permanent member of the G20, a long-standing ambition of African nations that the Washington Post suggests could help the US get them on side on issues such as the war in Ukraine and climate change. (Reuters)
Ministers approved plans for Egypt to join the New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral lender set up by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (the so-called BRICS)
The 100 billion USD Shanghai-headquartered bank was launched in 2015 by the BRICS group of major emerging economies to fund infrastructure and development projects in member countries. Egypt will become the bank’s ninth member: The NDB decided to admit Egypt as a member in December 2021, a few months after Bangladesh, the UAE, and Uruguay joined. Membership will allow Egypt to access finance from the bank for development projects. How much capital Egypt will contribute to the bank and how many shares it will own remains, are unknown! (Reuters)