State-owned Egyptian Iron and Steel is being liquidated in a process that will take up to two years, the company said in a disclosure (pdf) yesterday. The perennial lossmaker will have to sell off 6 mn sqm of its land assets to be able to pay off its EGP 9 bn in outstanding debts before liquidating, Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik told Al Arabiya.

New mining company to list on EGX in the next 2 months: The company will spin off its mining operation as part of the liquidation process, creating a new company, Iron and Steel for Mines and Quarries, that will be listed on the EGX in the coming weeks, the disclosure says. Egyptian Iron and Steel expects to receive approval from the Financial Regulatory Authority to list the shares within two weeks, to receive approval to register the company within 10 days of issuing its shares, and to begin trading on the EGX two to three weeks after that.

Background: The company said earlier this week that it would spin off its mining operations and liquidate its steel plant in Helwan as part of a government strategy to streamline the public sector. Tawfik said last year that the troubled company would separate its most valuable business into a standalone company ahead of a potential listing on the EGX.