ADQ moves forward with EGP 10 bn bid for Amoun Pharma: A subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ is seeking Financial Regulatory Authority approval to launch a mandatory tender offer for up to 100% of Bausch Health’s unit in Egypt, Amoun Pharma, in what could potentially be an EGP 10.3 bn acquisition. ADQ is looking to offer EGP 37.8 per share for a total of 272.2 mn shares through its subsidiary Ultra Welfare Limited, the regulator said in an EGX filing (pdf) on Thursday. The FRA still needs to review the MTO before it launches.

Why an MTO? Amoun Pharma is owned by Canada-based Bausch Health, but a small proportion of its shares (less than 1%) is held by other minority shareholders, which explains why the acquisition needs to be completed through an MTO.

Bausch is letting go of non-core assets in a deleveraging move: The talks on a sale come as Bausch is looking to pare down debt — and as it prepares to spin off its eye health business, Bausch + Lomb, Bloomberg reported earlier this year.

It’s still unclear if the Sovereign Fund of Egypt will be getting a piece of Amoun. SFE chief executive Ayman Soliman has gone on record saying that the fund is considering joining ADQ as a minority shareholder owning around 10% of the company. We haven’t heard anything from the SFE on the matter since Soliman’s comments in April. The SFE and ADQ set up a USD 20 bn joint investment arm back in 2019, and a partnership on Amoun could help solidify both parties’ commitment to the platform, ADQ Executive Director Fahad Al Qassim said in April.