SCA eyes floating three of its units: The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is considering selling 20% stakes in two or three of its companies on the EGX, authority boss Osama Rabie was quoted as saying by CNBC Arabia. Rabie named Canal Rope alongside Canal Harbor and Great Projects as two of the companies the SCA is considering for the float, without disclosing an expected timeline.

IPO momentum is picking up on the EGX: The government is gearing up to revive the state privatization program this year, with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, Planning Minister Hala El Said, and Finance Minister Mohamed Maait all signaling over the past couple of weeks that we should expect to see several state listings this year. Maait pledged last month to restart the privatization program in March, a few days after El Said said that the government could sell stakes every month or two. Macro Group’s debut on the bourse last week marked our second IPO of the year, after Al Khair River Development and Investment (aka Nahr El Khair) got the ball rolling last month.

The SCA’s new investment fund is expected to have as much as EGP 100 bn in capital by 2027, up from the initial capital of EGP 2 bn with which it will set up the fund, Rabie added. The authority is establishing the fund to help finance its “economic and investment activities,” and to backstop the authority’s finances during emergencies. Cabinet sigend off on the fund in January and it is currently awaiting discussion by the House of Representatives.

Canal expansions to cost EGP 3 bn: Work to widen and deepen the waterway is expected to cost EGP 3 bn and be completed by June 2023, Reuters quoted Rabie as saying at a news conference. Work is underway on the project’s first phase, which will make an additional 10 km of the canal accessible to two-way traffic, up from a current 75 km, Rabie said. The second phase will widen and deepen another 30-km stretch where the Ever Given got stuck in March. The move will improve safety rather than transit times, Rabie said, adding that it would have been too expensive to widen the canal’s entire length.

The SCA expects to hit USD 7 bn in revenues this year, after it posted a record USD 6.3 bn in 2021 on the back of an all-time high net tonnage transiting the canal amid a 10% increase in the number of passing ships.