The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) released its criteria for approving acquisitions of a stake greater than 33% of any brokerage with a market share of 10% or more, in a statement on Wednesday. Under these criteria EFSA will assess: concentration risk of in the portfolio of the acquiring entity in a given sector; whether the acquisition adds value to the target company; whether the acquiring entity has the capability to operate in the sector of the target company; other shareholders who have the same stake in the company; and whether the acquiring entity has been cited for previous violations of EFSA regulations. Separately, EFSA mandated that rights issues will now be mandatory for all capital increases of listed companies. Previously, rights issues required approval of a general assembly.

These criteria will impact how the regulator views CIB’s sale of 71.94% of CI Capital, which meets the criteria. EFSA head Sherif Samy told Al Mal that the regulator will be looking into each of the investors looking to grab a piece of CI Capital. The criteria were prepared after Beltone’s failed bid for CI Capital.

On the CI Capital sale, Al Mal is reporting that Ismail Mansour, managing director of Manfoods, is among those looking to buy in.