CONSTRUCTION-

Egypt-based Engineering Consultants Group (ECG) was awarded a contract to design a multi-purpose hall for Saudi mega city Neom, according to its website.

COMMODITIES-

Bidding in cooking complex tender wraps: Seven local and international companies bid in the Supply Ministry’s tender for three new cooking oil complexes, Al Borsa reported Maj. Gen. Ahmed Hassanien, chair of the state-owned Holding Company for Food Industries, as saying yesterday. The ministry expects to award contracts within the next month for the three complexes in Alexandria, Sohag, and Sadat City, which are worth a combined USD 321 mn.

ICYMI- We took a deep dive on the push to localize vegetable oil production in our weekly Inside Industry vertical.

DEFENSE-

French defense giant Thales could cooperate with military companies: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held talks with Thales CEO and chairman Patrice Caine yesterday over possible cooperation with two companies owned by the Egyptian military, according to an Ittihadiya statement out yesterday.

INVESTMENT-

Global tyre manufacturer Prometeon Tyre will invest EUR 30 mn to upgrade its factory in Alexandria, it said in a statement (pdf) on Sunday. The money will raise production at the factory, the statement said, without providing a figure. It currently has an annual production capacity of 1.1 mn tyres. The company said that a separate EUR 25 mn has already been partly invested in R&D in Turkey, Italy and Egypt, but didn’t disclose how much was allocated to Egypt.

Two mn sqm of land is on offer to industrial investors: The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) has launched the fourth phase of an online industrial investment map offering more than 1k land plots to local and foreign investors, it said in a statement yesterday. Bidders can take out the tender conditions booklet for the plots starting Thursday 15 December until Tuesday 10 January, the IDA said, adding it would continue receiving bids until Sunday 15 January.

M&A WATCH-

It’s official- GB Auto has sold a 7.5% stake in MNT to Chimera: GB Auto has finalized the sale of a 7.5% stake in MNT Investments to Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Chimera Investments, GB Auto said in a bourse disclosure (pdf). The GB Capital subsidiary now owns a 49.5% stake in the Netherlands-based payments company.

ICYMI- GB Auto’s board in November greenlit the sale to Chimera for USD 60 mn with an earnout component that could reach USD 71.3 mn — around a 15.6% premium to a fair value study that valued the company at c. EGP 17 bn. The sale is part of a larger transaction that will see Chimera acquire a 21.7% stake in MNT, with the remaining 14.2% being sold by other unnamed investors in MNT.

TRADE-

Dubai International Chamber has opened a representative office in Cairo to bolster trade between the two countries, it said in a statement (pdf) yesterday. The strategic move comes as part of the Dubai Global initiative launched over the summer by the emirate to lure FDIs and new trade opportunities.