Investor acquired 7.5% of Sinai Cement amid Vicat dispute settlement: The settlement of the dispute between Sinai Cement’s parent company and the Egyptian government paved the way for an investor to acquire a 7.5% stake in the firm, four years after the purchase took place, Enterprise has learned. The 10 mn shares bought by Asmaa Amer Gharib back in 2018 were frozen after the government allegedly tried to force the French cement producer Vicat to sell its majority stake, and were only unfrozen last month when the two sides settled the ownership dispute. No details on the settlement were publicly disclosed.

The details: Gharib acquired 9.98 mn shares of Sinai Cement on 20 March at an average price of EGP 10 each, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf) filed Monday. Vicat and the government signed the settlement agreement a day later. Gharib has no public profile that we can ascertain.

Vicat is now mounting a takeover bid: A mandatory tender offer submitted by Vicat for another 42.1% of Sinai Cement at EGP 6.74 per share got underway on Sunday. The subscription period will finish on 21 April. Vicat owned some 56.2% of Sinai Cement as of the end of 2021, according to the company’s latest financials.