Egypt’s Sawiris says CI Capital acquisition stalled by security

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris said on Sunday his bid to acquire CI Capital, the investment arm of Egypt’s largest listed bank, was being held up by national security concerns and criticised state meddling in business that he said would put off investors.

In February, Commercial International Bank (CIB) signed a deal to sell CI Capital to a unit of Sawiris’s Orascom Telecom for 924 million pounds ($104.06 million).

Sawiris said at the time he planned to merge CI Capital with Beltone Financial, which OTMT bought last year, to create one of Egypt’s largest investment firms.

But in a column published by stateowned Al Akhbar newspaper, Sawiris said the deal was still awaiting security clearance, adding that the hold-up was the latest move by authorities to prevent him owning a large financial institution.

Sawiris’s bid for CI Capital was challenged in February when a subsidiary of state-owned National Bank of Egypt made a last-minute counter-offer. It later withdrew after failing to agree with CIB on a timeframe for feasibility studies.

Sawiris said a state bank had also withdrawn a loan offer meant to help finance the deal. He did not name the bank.

“This gives a negative and harmful message to the investment climate, saying to investors be warned if you wish to invest in Egypt because the state will enter and compete with you using public funds,” he wrote.