Banque du Caire Chairman rules out offering bank's stake on EGX during 2020

CAIRO - 26 August 2020: Chairman of Banque du Caire Tarek Fayed eliminated floating his bank’s share on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) in 2020 due to the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Reuters.

“ The bank has started the procedures of the offering process but it has been stopped due to global conditions,” he stated, noting that things have not been clear and  global markets are unstable, and are still troubled by coronavirus. 

“The offering will be considered again,” he said.

The offering of a stake of Banque du Caire in the bourse will be the largest sale of state assets in Egypt since 2006. The bank is part of a revived program to sell shares in a long list of national companies, which was announced three years ago but has faced repeated delays.

In April, Fayed announced postponing his bank’s plan to float a stake of its shares on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

Fayed added in a statement to local media that this decision came due to the repercussions of the emergence of coronavirus globally and locally, and its impact on stock exchanges all over the world.

It was planned to offer 20 to 30 percent of the bank’s shares on the stock exchange, in April, as part of the government offer program.

In Feb., Chairman of Banque Misr Mohamed Eletreby said that his bank seeks to offer a stake of up to 45 percent of Banque du Caire unit on the Egyptian Stock Exchange during the first half of 2020.

The bank also is open to sell part of the stake to a foreign investor during the initial public offering (IPO), added Eletreby.

Banque du Caire is one of the largest public banks in Egypt and is wholly owned by Banque Misr, Egypt's second largest bank.

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.