IPO WATCH- CI Capital to IPO in 2H2018: Investment bank CI Capital is expected to list on the EGX in the second half of 2018, CEO Mahmoud Attallah tells Al Borsa. Last we heard, CI Capital’s initial public offering was pushed to 1Q2018 from its slated date in 2017. In the meantime, the investment bank is the latest in its industry to look at breaking into the consumer finance market. Attallah left the door open to both a greenfield play and an acquisition. CI Capital is also a month away from finalizing a transaction with Naguib Sawiris’ Gemini Holding to acquire its majority stake in Reefy Microfinance Enterprises, which it hopes to integrate into its platform of non-banking financial services, which includes Corplease.

Transaction pipeline: Attallah says CI advised on Cairo Three A’s acquisition of the National Company for Maize Products and that has two IPOs in the pipeline for next year. The government had tapped a CI Capital-led consortium in July to be lead managers and bookrunners for the listing of state-owned company Enppi, the first of various state-owned enterprises to list on the EGX under an ambitious government program that also includes Banque du Caire sale being quarterbacked by EFG Hermes.