By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, November 4 (Radarr Africa) – Egypt raised more than $650 million on Monday in the initial public offering (IPO) of Banque du Caire, a state-owned lender, in what Africanews described as one of the country’s biggest asset sales in years.
Banque Misr, the majority shareholder, sold 6.86 billion shares, equal to a 45 per cent stake, at 5.30 Egyptian pounds per share, according to Africanews, which reported the sale on November 2 with AFP.
The offering raised about 36.37 billion pounds, or $658 million, and valued the bank at about 80.83 billion pounds, or $1.46 billion, the report said.
The listing forms part of reforms under an IMF programme that are meant to widen private-sector participation in the economy, Africanews reported. The government has said it plans to sell stakes in more than 30 state-owned companies as part of its commitments to the fund.
In June, four state-owned companies received preliminary approval to list on the stock market, with offerings planned by May 2027, the report said.
Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said the listing went ahead despite regional tensions. He stressed the government’s commitment to continuing its programme of state asset offerings, with the aim to “unlock greater value from public assets”, according to the report.
Banque du Caire’s chief executive, Hussein Abaza, told AFP the IPO had been long delayed. “This is an IPO that’s been more than 20 years on and off,” he said, according to the report. Abaza cited the Covid-19 pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza among the obstacles.
He called the offering a sign of confidence in the stock market itself and said it showed Egypt was serious about privatisation, Africanews reported.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) were among the top investors, the report said. The EBRD invested $100 million for a 6.9 per cent share.
Banque du Caire was founded in 1952 and is Egypt’s third-largest state-owned bank, according to Africanews.
Business Tech Africa, in its November 3 news summary, gave the same headline figures for the sale: more than $650 million raised, 6.86 billion shares sold by Banque Misr, and a price of 5.30 pounds per share. It did not list a separate source.
The sale comes as Egypt’s economy shows mixed signals. The Rio Times reported on November 4 that Egypt’s composite purchasing managers’ index stood at 47.2, below the consensus forecast of 48. A reading below 50 normally signals contraction, though the Rio Times did not give the previous month’s figure.
Egypt’s benchmark EGX 30 index stood at 49,256 on November 3, up 1.76 per cent on the day, according to the same Rio Times snapshot of African markets.
Africanews said the Banque du Caire sale was one of the larger asset sales in years but did not compare it with earlier Egyptian offerings. Details of the investor allocation beyond the IFC and EBRD, and the date on which Banque du Caire shares will begin trading, were not given in the report.
