IPO WATCH- BdC scraps plans for dual listing: Banque du Caire (BdC) does not have plans to list on a foreign exchange and will only offer a stake on the EGX, Masrawy reported citing unnamed sources. Chairman Tarek Fayed said back in April that the bank could list on both the EGX and the London Stock Exchange to attract more foreign investors, but sources said yesterday that the surge in USD inflows so far this year had persuaded the bank to ditch its plans for a dual listing. The government planned initially to offer 5% of the bank’s shares as global depository receipts on the LSE.

The second leg of the BdC roadshow will begin two weeks, when officials travel to Boston and New York to gauge investor demand. The first leg of the roadshow for the bank’s IPO saw “large” investor appetite from major investment funds in London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

A final evaluation for the IPO will be ready by the end of March or April, sources said. Grant Thornton Financial Advisors have reportedly been tapped to conduct the fair value assessment.

If everything goes to plan, BdC will offer its 49% stake at the end of the first quarter or early in the second, becoming the first state-owned company to IPO under the state privatization program. Misr Financial Investments, the investment banking arm of lead shareholder Banque Misr, will set the final date for the private placement before the public offering is made.