Saudi tech firm Brmaja is looking to list 20% of its shares on the EGX next March, investment director Ahmed Said told Enterprise, confirming a story first reported by Masrawy. The digital marketing and tech firm has submitted a listing request to the Financial Regulatory Authority and has been in talks with officials on the IPO for the past six months. The company expects to raise more than EGP 400 mn through the sale, Said said.

Brmaja is making Egypt its central hub through several acquisitions: The Saudi parent company has two wholly-owned subsidiaries currently operating in Egypt, Brmaja IT and Brmaja Innovation. Brmaja IT will acquire the Saudi firm in a reverse acquisition ahead of the bourse listing, bringing the company’s issued capital to EGP 100 mn or more, and therefore make it eligible for listing on the EGX rather than the small-cap Nilex. Once it goes public, the new merged entity will acquire Brmaja Innovation before going on to acquire all remaining Brmaja subsidiaries across Dubai and Africa. The plan will see all of Brmaja’s operations run out of its Cairo headquarters by the end of the first half of 2022, according to Saeed.

Why is Brmaja choosing Egypt as its home? The company has only been active in the country for two years, but last year embarked on a strategy to “concentrate our ecosystems in Egypt as a center and main hub,” Said said. It invested more than EGP 28 mn here last year, and wants to make the local market its first priority.

ًWhat does the company do? Brmaja for IT runs five or six platforms across the education, health and e-commerce sectors, while Brmaja for Innovation has signed a number of protocols with government agencies and Egypt Post to provide them with digital systems.

More like this, please: We’ve been saying for years that Egypt’s low cost base relative to GCC, abundant human talent, huge domestic market and proximity to key export markets make us a great regional headquarters.