Orascom Financial Holding, which is owned by well-known Egyptian millionaire Naguib Sawiris, has accepted an offer extended by UAE-based Chimera Investments to acquire a controlling stake in Egypt-based Beltone Financial Holding — an Orascom subsidiary.
In a disclosure the company sent to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Tuesday, Orascom said that it accepts selling all its shares of Beltone, which are 259,121,683 shares.
Orasom owned 56.9 percent of Beltone’s entire traded shares on the EGX.
On 13 June, Chimera submitted a non-binding offer to Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) to purchase between 51 percent and 90 percent of Beltone’s shares on the EGX according to the articles of Law No.95 for 1992 that governs the capital market in Egypt; the FRA agreed to the offer on 19 July.
A day after, the EGX announced the measures of the deal, including setting the share price at EGP 1.4, stipulating the bid should be concluded by 3 August.
For the sake of supporting the country’s economy, the UAE is adopting an investment expansion plan in the Egyptian market with a special focus on real-state, food processing, financial services, and transportation.
In April, Abu Dhabi Development Holding (ADQ) invested about EGP 28.5 billion ($1.8 billion) to acquire shares of five major publicly traded Egyptian companies.
Furthermore, in July, Abu Dhabi-based food and beverage company Agthia acquired a 60 percent stake in Egypt-based Auf Group — a snacks and coffee manufacturer. Agthia is owned by ADQ.
The company also acquired a 75 percent stake in Egypt-based meat processor Ismailia Investments — also known as Atyab — in September 2021.
Moreover, Abu Dhabi Ports Group announced in July that it reached an agreement to acquire 70 percent of the shares of the International Cargo Subsidiary, which is wholly owned by Egypt-based Transmar and Transcargo International (TCI).
Under the industrial partnership initiative between Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, and Bahrain, the UAE’s government announced an investment fund of $10 billion for joint projects with Egypt and Jordan to achieve sustainable economic development among the three countries.
