IPO WATCH- Beltone wasn’t invited to bid for a piece of Abu Qir stake sale: State-owned investment bank NI Capital has excluded Beltone Financial from a tender it issued last month that will see it hire a manger for the sale of an additional stake in Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemicals Industries on the EGX, sources close to the matter tell Al Shorouk. According to the sources, NI Capital approached several other investment banks, including EFG Hermes, CI Capital, Arqaam Capital, HC Securities, Pharos Holdings, and HSBC. Beltone was eliminated from the list due to allegations of misconduct during its handling of the Sarwa Capital IPO last year leveled against it by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). The sources did not disclose when NI Capital expects to tap a manager or follow through with the sale, which comes as part of the state’s privatization program.

What’s the status on the privatization program, anyway? The committee overseeing the sell-down of state assets via stake sales and IPOs is scheduled to hold a meeting this month to look into how market conditions developed since the first phase of the program was put on ice last October amid the emerging markets selloff. A senior government official had told us that the program could resume as early as 1Q2019 or as late as the start of the new fiscal year in July, based on market conditions.