M&A WATCH- Medhat Khalil said to seek up to EGP 800 mn in bank finance for Raya take-private bid: Raya Holding for Financial Investments founder Medhat Khalil is in talks with several banks over a potential EGP 700-800 mn facility to finance his bid to take to take Raya private, Khalil said yesterday, according to Amwal Al Ghad. Khalil had previously estimated he would need EGP 500 mn to acquire the outstanding 58% of Raya, noting that he would be forced to acquire the remaining stake at a premium. He had also said earlier this month that he is considering bringing together a group of investors for the take-private bid.

Background: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) had ordered that Khalil launch an MTO or sell off shares in Raya after declaring he triggered the MTO requirement with an effective stake of more than 33%. Khalil says he and his family members control 32% of shares, but the FRA is counting the 10% stake owned separately by his brother-in-law as a related party, bringing the Khalil group’s total stake to 42%. Khalil has appealed the date and price set by the FRA for the MTO, he said earlier this month.

This comes as Raya Holding reported yesterday a net profit of EGP 41.53 mn in 3Q2018, up 28.6% from EGP 32.28 mn in the same period last year, according to a disclosure to the EGX (pdf). Revenues were up 25.8% y-o-y to EGP 2.19 bn from EGP 1.74 bn.