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Wednesday, 15 December 2021

Now make it official

The Aldar / ADQ consortium and SODIC are now hitched: The Emirati consortium of real estate giant Aldar Properties and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ officially took ownership of 85.5% of SODIC’s shares after the acquisition was executed during yesterday’s EGX trading session. The consortium acquired last week 85.5% of SODIC in an all-cash, EGP 6.1 bn transaction following the conclusion of the mandatory tender offer.

New board coming, management staying put: A new board of directors will be formed next month, SODIC CEO Magued Sherif said at a presser yesterday. Among the questions it will tackle are where and whether to expand both in Egypt and beyond the nation’s borders. Media reports last week emphasized that Aldar has no plans to change up management, meaning Sherif and his team will remain in place.

Also staying put: SODIC’S name and EGX listing: Aldar and ADQ have no plans to delist SODIC from the Egyptian Exchange or to change the company’s branding, Sherif told reporters yesterday.

The acquisition could be a boon for the real estate market, thanks to the entry of a player as big as Aldar and the transaction being one of the biggest inflows of foreign investment in the sector, therefore bolstering investor confidence, Sherif said. Aldar is a high-metabolism player with experience and systems born in the very competitive UAE market.

The transaction gives Aldar a strong entry point into the Egyptian market, Sherif said. That echoes what Aldar CEO Talal Al Dhiyebi said after the consortium closed the acquisition when he noted that “Aldar has identified Egypt as a priority market for international expansion, driven by a strong belief in the country’s potential and the macro-economic fundamentals driving the real estate sector. After studying the market, SODIC emerged as our desired entry-partner and is a natural commercial fit for Aldar.”

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.