US-led consortium tapped for Mogamma overhaul: A consortium of US-based Global Ventures and Oxford Capital together with the UAE’s Al Otaiba Investment signed yesterday a EGP 3.5 bn (c.USD 200 mn) contract to redevelop Tahrir Square’s Mogamma yesterday with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) and the Planning Ministry, the Madbouly cabinet said in a statement. The consortium had put forth the best technical and financial offer in the tender to revamp the Mogamma, and has prior experience with renovating historic buildings in the US and Europe, cabinet said. (Global Ventures is of zero relation to the high-profile venture capital outfit of the same name.)

The group will develop and manage the complex that was previously the physical home and literal embodiment of Egypt’s state bureaucracy. The contract sets up a partnership between the consortium and the SFE and will see the consortium manage the development of the complex and operate it once complete, the group said (pdf). The iconic downtown Cairo building is set to be transformed into a multi-purpose attraction with an apartment hotel as well as commercial and office spaces.

Where’s the financing coming from? The announcement was silent on how the Global Ventures-Oxford-Otaiba group plans to finance what it said will be an investment “in excess of USD 200 mn” in the project.

The process is expected to wrap within 24 months of the development work actually beginning, Planning Minister Hala El Said told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 19:44), confirming the timeline previously laid out by SFE CEO Ayman Soliman.

Weren’t we about to choose Arab partners for the gig? The government had been looking at four shortlisted bids submitted by consortiums of local and Arab companies as of September, Planning Minister Hala El Said had said at the time. Since then, the decision — which was initially meant to be announced that month — was delayed a handful of times.

Advisors: Alliance Law Firm acted provided legal advice to the US consortium while Adsero – Ragy Soliman & Partners acted as counsel to the SFE. Colliers International conducted the market study to help advise the decision.

ALSO COMING UP- The redevelopment of Mubarak HQ: Five different consortiums want to get involved in the redevelopment of the site of the former National Democratic Party headquarters, which will likely become home to a hotel, commercial, and residential project overlooking the Nile, Soliman said at the signing ceremony yesterday, according to Bloomberg Asharq. The tender for the project will be issued “within weeks,” likely after the end of the winter holiday season, El Said told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 1:31). The SFE also plans to launch a tender to repurpose the Interior Ministry building in downtown, which could be used as a campus for an unspecified French postgraduate university, alongside a startup incubator, according to the minister.