CIHC acquires 30% stake in Eastern Company in an LE 16.4B transaction

CAIRO – 16 November 2023: Chemical Industries Holding Company (CIHC) finalized the sale of a 30 percent stake in its subsidiary, the state-owned tobacco manufacturer Eastern Company. The transaction, valued at EGP 16.4 billion, took place on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) earlier on Thursday according to bourse bulletin.

CIHC sold approximately 669 million shares to Global Investment Holding, an investment firm based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Egypt is selling stakes in 35 state-owned companies through offering shares in these companies to strategic investors and via offerings on the EGX and a mix of both.

Egypt raised $5 billion from the privatization program so far, with additional deals worth around $5 billion are in the pipeline. Eastern Company is one of the companies that are part of Egypt’s 

Egypt expects up to raised LE 70 billion through its initial public offering (IPO) program in Financial Year 2023/2024, according to a recent report the cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).

The government is working on implementing a well-defined IPO program for government offerings, it explained, with plans to have 35 companies go public or stakes sold to strategic investors by the first half of 2024.