Ghazl Al-Mahalla: The sports club has failed to attract investors to its initial public offering (IPO) in the local market, with only 18 per cent of offered shares being bought by retail investors during the subscription period that ended on Sunday.

The company received bids for 17.6 million of the 98 million shares it offered to retail investors, according to a statement sent to the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX). This was even though the deadline for subscription was extended several times.

Ghazl Al-Mahalla, the first sports club to offer its shares on the local bourse, was planning to raise LE135 million by selling 67.5 per cent of its shares. The first batch of the divestment plan was successful, as it was able to sell LE37 million worth of shares to institutional investors in November.

The second batch, the IPO, which was initially planned to end in early July, was not successful due to weak investor interest amid tough economic conditions, high interest rates, and spiraling inflation. Individual investors who subscribed to the shares will now have a few days to decide either to keep their holdings or to return the shares and get their money back.

Alexandria Containers: The company specialising in containers and cargo handling is being eyed by the Qatari Wealth Fund according to media reports. The fund wants to buy a 10 to 20 per cent stake in Alex Containers from parent company the Maritime Transport Holding Company.

The fund is also considering buying a stake in Eastern Company, the sole producer of tobacco and cigarettes in Egypt. This comes as other Saudi and Emirati wealth funds are investing heavily in the market, with the first injecting $1.8 billion worth of investments in listed companies in April and the Saudi fund said to be in talks to buy stakes in Egypt Aluminium, United Bank, and Media Production City.

Arabian Food Industries (Domty): The leading cheese producer is being targeted by Expedition Investments, which, owned by Domty’s founder, has offered to acquire a 34 per cent stake in Domty for LE5 per share or 25 per cent higher than the traded value on the day the offer was made. The offer will last until 14 September.

According to a research note by Prime Securities, Domty is one of the two biggest cheese producers in Egypt, with a market share above 40 per cent. It has tapped the juice, milk, and bakery production in Egypt, and its debut in the bakery market was in the third quarter of 2018.

Prime expects the company’s revenue mix to stabilise at 64 per cent cheese, 27 per cent bakery, and nine per cent juice and milk.

Paint and Chemical Industries (Pachin) : The company has approached Al-Ahly Pharos to advise it on the takeover bids it is receiving, according to a note the company sent to the EGX. Pachin has appointed the investment bank to help it compare bids and negotiate the best deal.

Saybad Industrial Investment, an Egyptian company, offered LE16.5 to LE18.75 per share for up to 100 per cent of Pachin, valuing it at as much as LE450 million. This is a new offer in response to a rival bid from Universal Building Materials and Chemicals (Sipes), a regional paint producer with plants in Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt, which wants to buy up to all the company’s shares at LE17.5 to LE18.5 per share.

Credit Agricole: The bank is expected to witness an annual growth rate of 16 per cent in its earnings over the coming five-year period, according to a commentary by Prime Securities. The bank chose to protect its market share during the Covid-19 pandemic until more favourable conditions returned, while slightly improving its financial position with a combination of cost-control and revenue-growth approaches.

In 2022, the bank opted to remain on the safe side. “Unlike other private-sector banks, it did not follow suit in issuing high-yield three-year deposit certificates to lock in funds. This made growth in its deposit base come in at 1.8 per cent,” Prime said. The bank also limits its investments in treasuries, and by the end of 2021 it had one of the lowest treasuries to total assets ratios among its peers at 13.5 per cent.

This helped the bank to lower its effective tax rate to 26 per cent and maintain its loan market share at one per cent.

Al-Sewedy Electric: The manufacturer of cables and electrical products has signed a LE535 million contract with the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company to supply equipment for a transformer station at the New Delta Project and provide electricity to substations near the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 1 September, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.