M&A WATCH- Prime Holdings is working on six transactions worth up to EGP 2.3 bn, all of which it expects to close this year despite market conditions, the local press reports, citing an unnamed company official. All of the companies are in industries that are more resilient and expected to better withstand fallout from covid-19, the report claims. Four of the six transactions, which it described as being in “advanced stages,” include the following:

• A cosmetics and food supplements business that will sell a EGP 350 mn stake within a month to an unnamed institutional buyer;
• An agricultural goods manufacturer marketing a EGP 50 mn stake and mulling capital increase of EGP 150 mn;
• A printing and packaging company to increase capital by EGP 140 mn and sell a EGP 60 mn stake; and
• A real estate developer working on a EGP 200-220 mn transaction.

Two more in earlier stages: The two other active transactions involve a food industry player that is selling a 25-35% stake worth between EGP 350-500 mn and an unnamed tobacco company that will be sold entirely to a “strategic investor,” the sources added. Prime is also currently in talks to sign on a new client which operates a hospital and several medical labs and is looking to sell EGP 600-800 mn controlling stake to a Saudi-based institutional investor.