Shares of state-owned Egyptian Iron and Steel’s mining spinoff started trading this morning, the exchange said. The spinout, inventively named Iron and Steel Mines and Quarries, listed c. 978 mn shares after it received the all-clear from the EGX’s securities registration committee last week. Its shares are now trading separately from Egyptian Iron and Steel under the ticker ISMQ and closed the day at EGP 1.81 a piece, giving the company a market cap of nearly EGP 1.79 bn.

Meanwhile, Egyptian Iron and Steel is moving ahead with its liquidation process, saying in a regulatory filing (pdf) that it will appoint a liquidator tomorrow and update its commercial registration in the following three days. The liquidation procedures should then be completed within two years.

Background: Egyptian Iron and Steel announced earlier this year that it would spin off its mining operations at the same time as the troubled state company sells its steel plant in Helwan. Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik previously said that 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.