CAPITAL MARKETS-

Minority shareholders in Vodafone Egypt will have another two days to decide whether to sell shares to Vodacom after the EGX extended the subscription period by two days to tomorrow, 17 January due to national holidays. Vodacom — the South African subsidiary of Vodafone Group — made an offer to purchase 0.05% of the company from minority shareholders in tandem with acquiring the parent company’s 55% stake in December

COMMODITIES–

Some 151 locations across 18 governorates are now open for the Ahlan Ramadan supermarket expo, with the number expected to reach more than 200 outlets across all governorates within days, Alaa Ezz, secretary-general of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC), is quoted as saying in a cabinet statement. The pre-Ramadan expo, which offers shoppers discounts of more than 30% on essentials in the run up to the holy month, launched early this year to help alleviate the squeeze on living costs amid high inflation. Moves to ease a backlog of imported goods at our ports are also starting to bring down food costs in the wider market, Ezz added.

A first look at what fair prices mean to the Supply Ministry: Price tags at the expo are in the EGP 14-19 range per kilo of rice, EGP 14-16 per kilo of sugar, EGP 5 per 400 gm of pasta, EGP 29-45 for oil, EGP 79-115 for a kilo of imported meat, and EGP 140 for a kilo of local meat, the statement reads. We’re still waiting to hear more on a suggested price list the government is drawing up for certain essential foods. Ramadan is set to begin toward the end of March.

HEALTHCARE–

Foreign doctors to visit gov’t hospitals with private-sector backing: Foreign medical experts will spend one or two days in government hospitals across the country to perform delicate and critical surgeries, help diagnose patients, and train local staff at no cost, under an MoU signed between the Health Ministry and private-sector healthcare firms including Alameda Healthcare, Alfa Cure, Saudi German Health, and Cleopatra Hospitals Group, according to a ministry statement.

M&A-

To sell or not to sell: The board of tourism developer Remco has called an extraordinary shareholders meeting to discuss selling the company’s five-star Stella di Mare Beach Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh to Tolip Hotels and Resorts, according to a bourse filing (pdf). The military-owned company offered to purchase the hotel for EGP 700 mn in October.