PRIVATIZATION WATCH- HHD to extend management rights contract to 10 years: State-owned Heliopolis Housing and Development (HHD) has decided to extend the tenor of the management contract it plans to hand to a private investor to 10 years from an originally planned seven, Al Mal reported. A number of companies bidding for the contract had sought the extension, the newspaper reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the process. HHD will award management rights and a 10% stake in the company to the winning investors as part of its wider plan to offer a 25% stake under the state privatization program.

What’s next? Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik met last week with the four companies that purchased the prospectus for the management rights and 10% stake sale — SODIC, BPE Partners, Palm Hills, and Arkan — to address questions, the newspaper reported. Tawfik reportedly signaled his willingness to be “flexible” with the terms of the contract, the sources say. The door for bids on the contract will remain open until 14 January; state-owned investment bank NI Capital will announce the selected bid by the end of January, Tawfik told us previously.