Raya boss says he’s redirecting EGP 300 mn in investments outside Egypt: Raya Holding for Financial Investments is redirecting elsewhere up to EGP 300 mn of investments that were initially planned for Egypt, Chairman and CEO Medhat Khalil tells Al Mal. Raya is in talks to raise its stake in Poland’s Makarony Polskie to 30%, putting it on equal footing with the Polish pasta-maker’s biggest shareholder. The company is also expanding its electronic devices and home appliances distribution business in Nigeria. In the Gulf, Raya has established a logistics company at Dubai’s Jebel Ali and will import electronics raw materials for resale to entities operating in the area. It has also finished the procedures for establishing a contact center company in Saudi Arabia.

Raya is also holding back on the potential listing or spin-off of a number of its units, he told the newspaper.

So why is Raya changing its mind about Egypt investments? Red tape: Raya subsidiary BariQ’s recycling factory halted production for over a month and a half after running out of raw material after the Environment Ministry revoked its approval of imports. The Administrative Control Authority stepped in to resolve the issue, but the factory, which exports most of its production to the US and Europe, cannot sell its output locally due to the absence of Egyptian standards. Raya has also faced licensing hurdles to sell or export products from several other facilities, including locally-assembled three-wheelers and frozen food products.

All of this comes as Khalil is pushing ahead with a take-private bid for Raya, which has transformed from a distributor and call-center operator into an investment company. That bid was effectively forced on him by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), which found that Khalil and related parties control a combined 42% stake in the company, a percentage that requires an MTO under s securities regulations. Khalil is bidding to take Raya private via a mandatory tender offer for 36.7% of the company’s shares.