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Thursday, 8 September 2022

Gulf wealth funds look set to buy into Egyptalum

Gulf sovereign funds look set to invest USD 200 mn in Egyptalum’s overhaul: EGX-listed Egypt Aluminum (Egyptalum) will fund two-thirds of its USD 300 mn overhaul by offering fresh stakes through a capital increase, the company said in a regulatory filing (pdf). The disclosure doesn’t name the investors buying in, but comes a day after the head of Egyptalum’s state-owned parent company told CNBC Arabia (watch, runtime: 8:21) that unnamed Gulf sovereign funds were buying in.

We suspected this was coming: Then-public enterprises minister Hisham Tawfik in May said Egyptalum would sell a 20-25% stake to an unnamed “strategic investor” to fund its overhaul, before in July suggesting the Saudi wealth fund was in the frame to come on board. It’s still not clear who’s buying in or how big a stake they will take for USD 200 mn.

What overhaul? The USD 300 mn upgrade is designed in part to help Egyptalum maintain its 320k-ton annual production capacity. The company had previously said it would fund the costs not covered by the stake sale through a debt issuance.

Market reaction: Egyptalum’s shares closed up 7.57% yesterday at EGP 20.44. The company has 412.5 mn shares listed with a market cap of EGP 8.4 bn.

BACKGROUND- Arab sovereign funds have been piling into Egypt after GCC countries pledged more than USD 22 bn in direct investment to help the country weather global economic headwinds. With state IPOs on hold for now thanks to rocky markets, the Saudi and Abu Dhabi sovereign funds have supported the government’s pivot to strategic stake sales, snapping up holdings in EGX-listed, state-owned companies including Mopco, Abu Qir Fertilizers, Alexandria Containers, and E-Finance. There’s talk that the Qatari sovereign fund is poised to follow.

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