Egypt to resume IPOs of state-run firms by end of March – minister

Egypt’s government plans to resume its programme to offer stakes in state-run firms by the end of March, with Banque du Caire’s IPO expected to be second in a line-up of three companies on offer, Public Enterprise minister Hisham Tawfik said.

Officials had launched the programme about three years ago to either list anew or sell additional stakes in state companies, but moved ahead with only one before the initiative stalled amid a market downturn.

The effort was part of a broader plan to revive the economy and authorities had hoped to raise around 100bn Egyptian pounds ($6.4bn) from the sale of stakes in more than 20 companies.

Tawfik, speaking in an interview on Tuesday, declined to identify which companies would be offered in the coming period, but said that the committee in charge of the programme pushed for the sale of Banque du Caire.

Central bank governor Tarek Amer has said Egypt could sell a stake of up to 30 per cent in the bank, one of the country’s largest.

Another state-run firm, Heliopolis Housing, has set a deadline later this month for bidders for a company to oversee management of the property firm in exchange for a 10 per cent stake, while another 12 per cent stake is to be offered on the stock market.

The only sale to take place under the programme so far has been an additional 4.5 per cent stake in Eastern Tobacco, the country’s monopoly cigarette maker.

That deal was completed last March.