CIRA IPO subscribed more than 18.9 times

An initial public offering (IPO) of some 14.5 million shares of Egypt’s Cairo for Investment and Real Estate Development company (CIRA) was 18.9 times oversubscribed yesterday, traders said.

Ten companies — five state-controlled already trading on the stock exchange and five owned by the private sector — are due to list shares by the end of the year, testing whether Egypt can withstand emerging market contagion after currency crises that rattled Turkey and Argentina last month.

CIRA last month announced it was offering nearly 207.3 million shares, representing around 37.84 per cent of the company, for sale in a private and a public offering at a price of six Egyptian pounds (Dh1.21; $0.3348) a share.

Bourse officials said that the private offering on Sunday of around 192.5 million shares was 10.6 times oversubscribed.

192.5m shares offered by CIRA privately on Sunday