IPO WATCH- Evergrow For Speciality Fertilizers is planning to sell a 30% stake in an IPO on the EGX by no later than 2022, Chairman Mohamed El Kheshen told the local press. El Kheshen did not specify how much Evergrow is looking to raise from the sale. The company will begin the process of hiring an investment bank to quarterback the transaction soon, he said.

Meanwhile, Evergrow is working on two fertilizers factories expected to cost up to EGP 19 bn, El Kheshen separately said. The first project is expected to cost EGP 9 bn, and will see Evergrow setting up a 50-50 JV with Belgium-based Ecophos. The second will see the company partner with unnamed Egyptian businessmen to set up a EGP 10 bn factory with a capacity to produce 700 tonnes of nitric acid and 1k tonnes of ammonium chloride a day. The company is in talks with several EU- and Gulf-based banks to borrow USD 562 mn (EGP 9 bn) to finance part of the cost, with the remainder coming through its partners or potentially from IPO proceeds. We noted in December that the company had reached an agreement with four local banks for a USD 150 mn loan to restructure its debts, having borrowed USD 200 mn from the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and the Arab African International Bank to set up a fertilizer factory in 2017, but has only repaid USD 50 mn.