Saudi Egyptian Industrial Investment won’t be acquiring a stake in Al Babtain’s Egypt unit: A bid by Saudi Egyptian Industrial Investment (SEII) to acquire a stake in Al Babtain Power & Telecom Egypt looks to be over after the Tadawul-listed company said yesterday that acquisition talks between the companies have been suspended. In a disclosure to the Saudi exchange, Al Babtain said the talks had come to an end due to “unstable” economic conditions and “unclear” market outlook caused by covid-19, and that the companies were unable to reach a mutually acceptable shareholder agreement.

Background: In December 2019, SEII signed a four-month letter of intent with Al Babtain’s Egyptian unit to negotiate acquiring an undisclosed stake in the firm via a capital increase. The original MoU was then extended five times by the companies, which Al Babtain attributed to complications caused by the pandemic and slow progress agreeing terms.

An IPO in the cards? Al Babtain will continue to study the possibility of offering a part of its Egyptian subsidiary on the EGX, it said.