Egypt prepares to handle first state-owned IPO in 12 years

CAIRO: Egypt has picked a consortium led by CI Capital to act as lead managers and bookrunners for a stock market listing of oil company Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI), the country’s first initial public offering (IPO) of a stateowned company in 12 years.

The consortium also includes Jefferies International Limited and Emirates NBD Capital Limited, the Investment Ministry said on Wednesday.

The government is launching an IPO program that will offer shares in dozens of state-owned companies over the next three to five years in areas such as petroleum, services, chemicals, shipping, maritime and real estate to help boost state finances.

Investment Minister Sahar Nasr told Reuters shares in ENPPI would be traded during the fourth quarter of 2017.

Egypt aims to raise up to $150 million from the ENPPI offering, which be will be the first in a stateowned company since shares in Telecom Egypt and oil companies Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals and AMOC were floated 12 years ago.

It has said state company IPOs will raise 5-7 billion Egyptian pounds ($276 million-$387 million) during the 2017-2018 fiscal year beginning in July.

Egypt’s economy has been struggling to recover since a popular uprising in 2011 drove foreign investors and tourists away, but the government hopes a $12 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program signed at the end of last year will put it on the road to recovery.

“The ENPPI IPO is only the beginning of a pipeline of staterun companies to offer minority shares publicly over the next year,” Nasr said in a statement.

The government will retain majority stakes in these enterprises while helping via the IPOs to increase the size and liquidity of Egypt’s stock market, Nasr said.