Taaleem plans Zoom roadshow for 1Q2021 EGX debut: Investors in South Korea, the UK, the US, and the Gulf will be among those Taaleem Management Services targets in a virtual roadshow to drum up foreign interest for its upcoming IPO of a 49% stake on the EGX, Al Mal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The company will rely primarily on video-conferencing technology to market the listing, which is expected to take place before the end of March. An IPO prospectus will specify the size of the institutional component of the IPO, and how much a single investor can hold, the sources added, without mentioning a timeline.

Background: Taaleem, which operates Upper Egypt-based Nahda University, announced earlier this month it is planning to offer up to 347.7 mn ordinary shares (49%) in a secondary sale to both institutional investors in Egypt and abroad and retail investors here at home. CI Capital, which acquired a 60% stake in the company from its former parent Thebes Education Management Holdings as part of a group of investors in 2019, is expected to be among those selling down. At the time CI Capital acquired the stake, it partnered with co-investors including StonePine ACE Fund, a JV between StonePine Capital and ACE.

Why it’s important to keep an eye on this: The EGX sale would end an IPO dry spell Egypt has endured these past couple of years. Emerald was the only IPO of 2020. Rameda and e-payments darling Fawry were also the only two IPOs of 2019 after Hassan Allam and Carbon Holding pulled hotly anticipated transactions.

OTHER IPO NEWS-

Ebtikar wraps up bringing Vitas Egypt under Basata: Another company with plans to hit the EGX this year, non-banking financial services provider Ebtikar, is well on its way to begin the formal process in 2H2021 after it finalized a new structure for its portfolio companies. Microfinance provider Vitas Egypt, which used to operate directly under Ebtikar, is now a subsidiary of Basata, a holding company Ebtikar set up to separate its non-bank business from its e-payments ventures, Vitas CEO Hossam Abou Heiba told Al Mal. The company earlier this month transferred its shares in Tamweel Holding to Basata and received regulatory approval to move Vitas, allowing it to IPO its e-payments businesses, Bee and Masary.