DISPUTE WATCH- Adeptio loses appeal Americana MTO dispute, receives new fair value study: An administrative court has rejected Adeptio’s appeal against a Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) decision requiring it to mount a mandatory tender offer (MTO) for its acquisition of a minority stake in the Egyptian International Tourism Projects Company (Americana), according to a disclosure to the EGX (pdf). Adeptio had lost an appeal in February against the market regulator’s decision to reject the MTO last November. The FRA received a fair value assessment by Adeptio’s new financial adviser, Ernst & Young, it said in a statement (pdf).

Background: Adeptio was ordered last year to submit an MTO for an outstanding 9.563% of Americana Egypt’s shares, after it acquired a 67% stake in parent company Kuwait Food Company (Americana) and gained indirect ownership of more than 90% of the subsidiary’s shares. Adeptio initially claimed it should not be required to submit an MTO, but after a few denied appeals, the company submitted an offer based on a study by Fincorp. Americana’s minority shareholders rejected the offer and appointed a new financial adviser after Fincorp was suspended from carrying out valuation studies for three months by the FRA.