Back to the complete issue
Thursday, 14 November 2019

Actis, Engie, Datang in the running to acquire stake in Egypt’s combined-cycle power plants

Actis, Engie, Datang in the running to acquire stake in Egypt’s combined-cycle power plants: Actis, France’s Engie, and China Datang Overseas Investment are all competing alongside Blackstone’s Zarou to acquire a stake in the Siemens / Orascom Construction / Elsewedy Electric combined-cycle power plants, according to Bloomberg. Sources in the Electricity Ministry had said earlier this week that Zarou is the top contender to acquire the stake, having submitted the best financial offer. Edra Holdings is also reportedly one of the six investors in the running, leaving us with one remaining mystery investor.

Advisors: Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund, Tharaa, is set to select a financial advisor for the transaction next week, Tharaa CEO Ayman Soliman told the news information service earlier this week. While Soliman declined to drop any names, Bloomberg says that HSBC and Citigroup are bidding for the job. Zarou has tapped JPMorgan Chase, while Standard Chartered is advising Edra. World Bank country manager Walid Labadi tells Bloomberg that the bank’s International Finance Corporation has also submitted a proposal “to advise on attracting private investors to this project upon request from the Egyptian government.”

Background: Soliman said on Tuesday that an agreement to sell a stake in only a single plant is expected to be finalized in less than a year. Stake sales in the other two plants would then follow. He also said on Monday that the fund is planning to acquire 30% of the plants’ equity, and offer the remaining stake to an international investor as part of its efforts to encourage foreign participation in the economy. Post-sale, the shareholders could establish a joint venture that would then sign a power purchase agreement to sell the plants’ output to the government. There are two other scenarios that the fund is looking at, including one in which it takes a 60-70% stake in the plants, leaving a minority stake for the private sector. The three 14.4 GW plants were co-built by Siemens, Orascom Construction, and Elsewedy Electric, and were inaugurated in July 2018.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.