IT infrastructure contractor Benya Group is looking to raise USD 150 mn via a private placement before the end of 2Q2022, CEO Ahmed Mekky told CNBC Arabia yesterday. The new capital would primarily go towards financing the company’s expansion plans in Africa, he added.

A group of investors have already expressed interest in participating, Mekky said, adding that the private placement is getting “serious” attention from international investment funds, including investors from the Gulf, without identifying them. Meetings with the potential investors are ongoing, he said. This comes after Benya’s recently announced plans to set up an investment arm in Saudi Arabia by the end of the year, marking its first expansion in the Gulf region.

Round two will take place early next year: Benya is planning a second, larger capital increase at the beginning of 2023, Mekky said. This will happen ahead of the company’s plans for a dual listing on the EGX and a foreign bourse, he said, without disclosing further details. Benya in November said it would soon complete studies on a potential IPO in Egypt, after which it would decide on the second market and the timing of the offering.

The Egyptian company has been pushing into Africa. Benya is currently awaiting a license to build and extend a telecom network in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; has applied for a separate license to set up a company to construct and operate shared mobile towers in the DRC; and has started working with contractors who will supply fiber cables as part of an ongoing USD 500 mn agreement to set up a national fiber optic network in the country. The company also recently launched a USD 50 mn venture capital fund, dubbed Benya Ventures, that will focus primarily on tech, IoT and AI startups in Africa.