M&A WATCH- HC Securities & Investment is advising on M&A transactions in Egypt and internationally worth a combined EGP 3 bn, company chairman Hussein Shoukry tells Reuters in an interview on Sunday. The investment bank is concluding four transactions at the moment, he added. HC is the buy-side adviser for unnamed investors from the Far East, Europe and MENA on two transactions to acquire a petrochemicals company and a medical equipment manufacturer, said Shoukry, without naming the target companies. The firm is also advising on a USD 50 mn acquisition of 30% of an unnamed Kuwaiti petroleum company by a Saudi investor. HC is also working on restructuring an Egyptian company her referred to as “one of the largest food and beverage producers in the country.”

HC has also signed on as buy-side adviser to three GCC companies looking at regional food and education opportunities. It has also been tapped to act as the sell-side adviser on an Egyptian manufacturing company, said Shoukry.

HC won’t move into the increasingly crowded leasing space until interest rates drop, he added. Shoukry expects interest rates to drop 500-600 bps in 2018, “a move which would help us launch leasing operations with our partners.”

Investors not too worried about the elections: When asked on the impact of the presidential elections on the investment community, Shoukry said that he does not expect them to pose any particular risk to investor-appetite. Investors see a victory by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi as a foregone conclusion, he added.