EFG Hermes concludes Humansoft Holding’s USD 226 mn Kuwait Exchange accelerated book build in record timing: EFG Hermes announced yesterday that it successfully concluded the secondary offering of Al Othman Commercial Enterprises Company’s education outfit, Humansoft Holding Company, on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. The USD 226 mn transaction saw Al Othman Commercial Enterprises sell 17% of Human Soft shares on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. EFG acted as the sole sellside bookrunner and financial advisor, for what was “the largest accelerated equity offering in the Middle East and North Africa” in 2018, the company said in a press release (pdf). “Our position as one of the largest securities brokers in Kuwait and the largest in the region, in addition to being the leading ECM advisor in MENA has enabled us to launch and close this transaction in a record time; the transaction was successfully placed in 8 hours,” said EFG Investment Banking Co-CEO Mohamed Ebeid. “More importantly the transaction offered us the opportunity to avail a highly compelling investment play in one of the region’s most promising markets and sectors.”

The Humansoft accelerated book build is EFG’s third equity market transaction in less than two months, having just concluded advisory services last week on the GBP 125 mn IPO of microfinance lender ASA International on the LSE and advising on the USD 52 mn accelerated equity offering of Orascom Construction Industries on Nasdaq Dubai last month.