Governement concludes sale of 10% stake of Telecom Egypt in last tranche deal

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) announced on Sunday the successful execution of the second and last tranche of a deal to sell a governement owned 10 percent stake in Telecom Egypt, the country's largest telecom operator.

Ahram Online , Sunday 28 May 2023,

 Telecom Egypt.
Telecom Egypt. (The company s website).

 

This second tranche includes 8.4 million shares, accounting for 0.5 percent of the company's total capital, and is designated for Telecom Egypt's employees.

These shares were offered at a value of EGP 196.2 million ($6.3 million). They represent the final portion of a sale comprising a total of 170.7 million shares announced on 14 May.

The transaction was carried out on the EGX's secondary market, where investors trade securities they already own.

Prior to this deal, the Egyptian government owned 80 percent of Telecom Egypt, with the remaining 20 percent traded on the EGX. With this deal the government's ownership stake is now reduced to 70 percent.

Although this sale aligns with Egypt's privatization program, Telecom Egypt was not included in the disclosed list of companies to be offered by the Egyptian government.

Egypt is currently ramping up its efforts to fulfil its commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the 3$ billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) the fund approved for Egypt in December. The first review of the loan programme was pushed from 15 March to June.

Levelling the playing field with the private sector and reducing the government footprint in local economic activity is key for the review to be completed.

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