Egypt expected to postpone long-awaited IPOs of some public sector companies

Alyaa Stohy
2 Min Read
A general view of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) in Cairo August 18, 2013. Egypt's stock market fell sharply on Sunday as it resumed trading after hundreds of people were killed in a crackdown by the army-backed government on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Banks and the stock market reopened for the first time since Wednesday's carnage, with shares rapidly falling 2.5 percent. REUTERS/Louafi Larbi (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS)

Informed sources have suggested that the Egyptian Government is likely to postpone some of long-awaited public sector listings on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), namely Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling Company, Abu Qir Fertilizers, and the Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals Company (SIDPEC).  

Meanwhile, only e-finance and Banque du Caire are set to launch their IPOs in 2021. 

With regard to private companies IPOs, a source said that Ebtikar Holding for Financial Investments’ (Ebtikar) IPO will be postponed to the end of the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021 or early next year from Q3 of 2021. 

B Investments founders will also debut the IPO of Basatah Financial Holding in the second half (H2) of 2022. Infinity Solar will debut later.

The government IPO programme has witnessed repeated postponements since the global market turmoil of 2018. It was scheduled to include additional stakes from already listed companies and new initial public offerings. 

Out of about 23 companies that were scheduled to go public or launch secondary offerings, only one secondary offering has taken place, that of 4.5% for the Eastern Company in March 2019.

Postponements have been a common trend in recent months, due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

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