Offering additional stake of Heliopolis for Housing on EGX cancelled

CAIRO – 3 March 2020: Chairman of the Holding Company for Construction and Building, Hisham Abu Al-Atta, revealed the cancellation of offering an additional share of Heliopolis Company for Housing and Development on the stock exchange.

Atta added in statements on the sidelines of the inspection tour of the Minister of Public Business Sector for the new city of Heliopolis, that the company canceled the offering of 10 percent through the management contract and another 15 percent would be put on the stock exchange.

On the Heliopolis development plan, Atta indicated that the Holding Company seeks to contract with a consultant office to lay out a general plan for development, especially the unexploited lands, in conjunction with the targeting of the company comprehensive and integrated.

By the end of 2019, Minister of Public Business Sector Hesham Tawfik said that the governmental initial public offering (IPO) program is proceeding according to its schedule and is expected to start offering 10 percent of the shares of Heliopolis Company for Housing &Development by the first quarter of 2020.

In February 2019, Egypt floated a stake of Eastern Company on EGX, and the public and private offerings on the course were completed Wednesday, March 6, with a total value of LE 1.72 billion.

In 2018, Egypt delayed listing shares of state-owned companies on the Egyptian Exchange, such as the 4.5 percent stake of Eastern Company slated for October. The government attributed the delay to volatility in the global market, noting that if the shares had been floated, they would have failed to be covered at proper valuation.

In 2016, Egypt announced the launch of the government’s IPO program offering shares over three to five years in several state-owned companies in fields such as petroleum, services, chemicals and real estate.

As part of the economic reform program, the government targets offering 15-30 percent of stakes in state-owned companies on the stock exchange (EGX) to increase funding to Egyptian companies, maximize the benefit from state assets, and attract local and foreign capital flows to Egypt.