Good afternoon, folks: It’s a good news / bad news sort of afternoon, with reports of new investment into Egypt’s healthcare sector and new developments in FAB’s potential acquisition of EFG Hermes being balanced with the increasing prospect of major conflict in Europe. Let’s get to it.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

#1- EFG looks to appoint advisors for FAB acquisition bid: EFG Hermes’ board of directors agreed on Thursday to proceed with appointing an international financial advisor and local counsel for its potential acquisition by First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the leading financial institution announced today in an EGX disclosure (pdf). The Emirati lender last week announced that it had offered to purchase at least 51% of EFG for EGP 19.00 a share.

#2- Alta Semper to invest Macro proceeds in healthcare? Private equity player Alta Semper Capital could invest part of the proceeds from the sale of its shares in Macro Group’s IPO into the Egyptian healthcare sector, according to a report in the local press, which cites Managing Director Ahmed Rady. The firm made USD 85 mn selling its stake in Macro during its IPO last week, handing it spare capital to deploy to the sector.

^^We’ll have more on these stories and others in tomorrow’s EnterpriseAM.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• M&A in Egypt continued to accelerate in 2H2021 as waning pandemic uncertainties and cheap international borrowing rates fuelled a rebound in transaction volumes following the covid shock in 2020, according to a Baker McKenzie report.
• The Madbouly government wants our first Samurai bond issuance to be fully guaranteed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to ensure strong investor participation.
• The private sector was Egypt’s leading wheat importer last year: Private sector wheat imports surpassed purchases by the state-run General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) in 2021 — and could continue to lead Egypt’s wheat imports.

HAPPENING NOW-

The Senate gave its final approval to the draft Labor Act earlier today, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The Senate will now pass the bill back to the House of Representatives for final approval. The law would, if enacted, extend both maternity leave and notice periods, cap working hours, and change minimum raise increments, among other things. We have an explainer on the bill’s finer points here.

The draft Ins. Act, meanwhile, is up for debate at the Senate’s Financial Affairs Committee today and tomorrow, Ahram Online reports. The bill would make the Financial Regulatory Authority the primary regulator for the ins. sector and make ins. compulsory for SMEs and freelancers.

The Arab Sustainable Development Week is ongoing and will run until Tuesday at the Arab League headquarters and the Nile Ritz Carlton.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Talk of war in Ukraine is still front-page news everywhere you look this afternoon: As Western nations move to pull non-essential diplomatic staff from Ukraine and advise citizens to evacuate, some airlines are now canceling or diverting flights to the country on fears that war is imminent between Moscow and Kiev, according to the Associated Press. More than a dozen countries, including the US, the UK, and Germany, have told their nationals to leave Ukraine as Russia continues its war games in Belarus, amassing an estimated 100k troops along Ukraine's border.

FOR TOMORROW- The three-day Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS) begins at the Egypt International Exhibition Center tomorrow, and runs until Wednesday.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

An art exhibition featuring work from marginalized children will be held at Townhouse Gallery from tomorrow until Saturday. The event is organized by the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, AlexBank, Townhouse Gallery, Al Ismaelia for Real Estate Investment, and Ubuntu Art Gallery.

PSA- Companies that are required to sign up to the sixth phase of the rollout of the government’s electronic invoicing platform must do so by Tuesday. Over 31k companies had signed up by January to the Tax Authority’s e-invoicing system for B2B transactions, Egyptian eInvoicing.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect a daytime high of 21°C tomorrow, while the mercury will fall to 9°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.