Regulator approves BPE Partners' IPO, Trading to start April 2

CAIRO – 6 March 2018: Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) approved the issuing program of BPE Holding for Financial Investments (BCAP) in preparation for the offering of the company’s shares in the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

Trading on BCAP will start on April 2, in conjunction with the announcement of the presidential election's result.

BPE Holding for Financial Investments operates within the diversified financial sector focusing on investment banking & brokerage.

It has one subsidiary operating in Egypt, working on household appliances. BPE Holding for Financial Investments is based in Giza, Egypt, and was established in April 2006 through 18 domestic and foreign investors.

The investment portfolio of the company includes: Ebtikar Investment Finance, Total Egypt, Nasr City Housing and Development, Power Generation Engineering and Services Company (PGESCo), Giza Systems, Cairo Kidney Center, BIO Pharma Egypt, and Al-Ismailia for Real Estate Investment.

Chairman of BPE Partners Hazem Barakat affirmed that the company decided to issue 35 percent of its LE 1.7 billion capital in EGX to collect about LE 450 million.

Barakat added that the collected money will be invested in a number of investment opportunities to expand in the new and renewable energy sectors and non-bank financial services.

BPE Partners is the first company to have the Financial Regulatory Authority’s approval to be listed in the Egyptian Exchange, with expectations of issuing a large number of companies by the beginning of the second quarter of 2018.

Meanwhile, CI Capital announced that they are at the late stage of ending the issuing procedures, and Arabia Group for Development and Urban Progress is studying the issuing procedures.

Misr Italia Group announced earlier the issue of its shares in EGX with an amount of $85 million, and the expected issue of Roaya Group’s shares is worth $111 million.

Al Ahram Press Organization further announced a plan to eliminate its losses of LE 1.6 billion, overcome a financing gap of LE 600 million annually, and issue a 25 percent stake in the stock market.

This comes in addition to the expected issue of Banque du Caire and ENPI, as a part of the government's IPOs program, in which the state aims to attract $10 billion in investments during the next three years.

The Egyptian Exchange had six issues in 2017 which were worth LE 4 billion with a 65 percent increase in comparison to 2016’s issues.

Minister of Finance Amr el-Garhy clarified Monday that the IPOs program in the Egyptian Exchange might be a source of additional revenues in the budget of fiscal year 2018/2019.

On February 26, Deputy Minister of Finance for Financial Policies Ahmed Kojak stated that the government targets to increase market capitalization from 20-21 percent of gross domestic product to 50-60 percent by issuing governmental companies in the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

According to kojak's statement, the timetable of the governmental IPOs is expected to be published during this week.

The Egyptian government launched in 2016 an IPO program that offers shares in several state-owned companies over three to five years in fields such as petroleum, services, chemicals and real estate to help boost state finances.

The Initial Public Offerings (IPO) program is conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Investment.

It covers a period of three to five years, aiming to offer partial stakes in some state-owned companies on the Stock Exchange. It will serve as a main tool to attract local and foreign capital flows to Egypt.