M&A WATCH- Adeptio wants Sahar Nasr to intervene in Americana dispute: Adeptio has appealed to Investment Minister Sahar Nasr to intervene in its ongoing dispute with the Egyptian International Tourism Projects Company’s (Americana Egypt) minority shareholders, Al Mal reports. The Gulf-based investment consortium wants Nasr to overturn the Financial Regulatory Authority’s (FRA) decision to block its mandatory tender offer (MTO) for the 9.563% of Americana shares that remain in the hands of minority shareholders. The FRA claimed that Adeptio’s valuation — which priced the shares at EGP 3.9 each — did not represent fair value and was not based on an objective assessment.

Background: Adeptio completed in 2016 the acquisition of a 67% stake in Americana Egypt’s parent company, Kuwait Food Company (Americana), handing them indirect ownership of more than 90% of the subsidiary’s shares. The FRA then ordered Adeptio to submit an MTO to buy the remaining 9.563% shares, which it contested in an economic court only to have the court reject the appeal. A 15-day grace period was set for Adeptio to submit the MTO after Adeptio had requested a 30-day extension on the initial deadline that expired on 21 October on the grounds that it has yet to complete its fair share evaluation on Americana, which the FRA approved.