E-Finance IPO postponed to 4Q2020
E-Finance IPO postponed to 4Q2020: The government has postponed the IPO of e-payments firm E-Finance to the final quarter of 2020, citing delays valuing the company, government sources told the local press. The fair value report was originally expected to be completed at the end of January paving the way for the company to go public in April. Sources said over the weekend that the report will take another 1.5-2 months to finish and that the government will push the listing to the final quarter of the year.
Deja vu: This isn’t the first time that the government has pushed the company’s IPO. Chairman Ibrahim Sarhan said last year the IPO will take place before the end of 2019 only for the government to kick all upcoming IPOs into 2020 citing unexpected delays.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing: As we note above in connection with TAQA Arabia’s IPO, a push to the second half of the year may prove sensible given where market sentiment is right now.
Advisors: Pharos Holding and Renaissance Capital are joint global coordinators. Zaki Hashem & Partners were previously reported to have been retained as legal advisors, while Baker Tilly was tapped to prepare the fair value report. Inktank is investor relations advisor.