DEBT WATCH- Sarwa, Amer to close sukuk sales before 2020 ends: Sukuk issuances by EGX-listed Sarwa Capital and Amer Group are set to go to market before the year is out, the local press reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the transactions. Sarwa, a structured- and consumer-finance player, is likely to tap the sukuk market within a month. Sarwa Promotion & Underwriting Managing Director Ayman El Sawy said last week that the EGP 2.5 bn offering will be completed as early as the end of October, and the company has previously said it will issue sukuk to the tune of EGP 2.5 bn. Amer was said to have been planning to take EGP 2 bn-worth of sharia-compliant securities to market, but the local press suggests the company hasn’t yet decided on the final figure for the sale, which should materialize in December.

Background: Sarwa’s will be the second sukuk issuance to hit the Egyptian market after Talaat Moustafa Group’s (TMG) offering earlier this year. The Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company was also reportedly planning an EGP 1 bn sukuk issuance — the first by a state-owned company — though this has not materialized as of yet.