M&A-

Is e-Finance looking to bring in a strategic investor? e-Finance is in advanced talks with a local strategic investor looking to buy into an EGP 2.5 bn capital increase for one of the state-owned e-payments firm’s subsidiaries, Al Borsa quotes e-Finance Chairman and CEO Ibrahim Sarhan as saying at a presser yesterday. Some 70% of the proceeds from the capital increase would be spent to expand the company’s NBFS and cloud computing services, while the remaining EGP 750 mn would go to tech infrastructure, Sarhan said.

REMEMBER- Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund acquired 25% of the company last year for EGP 7.5 bn, becoming its single-largest shareholder.

SUEZ CANAL-

Saudi shipping company eyes Suez Canal: Saudi Arabia’s state-owned National Shipping Company (Bahri) signed a non-binding MoU with the Suez Canal Authority that could see it establish an Egypt joint-stock company for maritime transport, it said in a disclosure to the Saudi stock exchange. The MoU aims to cooperate in “establishing an Egyptian JV for maritime transport that will specialize in owning, leasing, chartering, and operating vessels to transport general and bulk cargo, chemicals, oil, and all operations related to maritime transport.”

Details are still scant: The disclosure did not provide details on the ownership, finances or operations of the company.

Ownership: The Saudi sovereign wealth fund (PIF) owns 22% of Bahri, while oil giant Aramco holds 20%, according to its website. The remaining shares are listed on the Saudi stock exchange.

DEBT WATCH-

MNHD closes new securitization: EGX-listed Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (MNHD) closed a EGP 805.5 mn securitized bond issuance, the second installment in a three-year, EGP 3 bn program, its legal advisor, Dreny & Partners, said in a statement (pdf) yesterday. The issuance is backed by an undisclosed receivables portfolio, and consists of three tranches rated A, AA, and AA+.

Advisors: Our friends at EFG Hermes acted as the transaction’s financial advisor, while NBE, Arab African Bank (AALB) and CIB along with EFG Hermes acted as underwriters of the transaction. CIB also acted as bookrunner and custodian, with KPMG as auditor. Dreny & Partners acted as counsel.

2023 in securitization: Some EGP 7.6 bn worth of bonds have been sold so far in 2023, slightly down from EGP 7.9 bn in the same period last year, according to data tracked by Enterprise.

INDUSTRY-

The new capital’s developer is planning an industrial zone: The Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) will offer plots in a 2k-feddan industrial zone in the new administrative capital to investors later this year, Chairman Khaled Abbas told Asharq Business on Tuesday. ACUD — the military-owned owner and developer of the new capital — will finalize designs for the project during the second half of this year, he said.

Growing interest in the new capital: “We currently have offers from Gulf companies looking to obtain plots, but we’re still waiting to finalize the second phase’s plans to choose from [the plots],” Abbas said, without disclosing their identities.