Egypt to offer extra shares in five state companies this year

CAIRO - 17 September 2018: Egypt will offer additional shares in five state companies over the next three months at prices within 10 percent of stock market levels, public enterprise minister Hesham Tawfik said on Monday.

“We will offer another block of companies over a period of between six and nine months after the end of the first phase of five company offerings,” Tawfik added.

The government will also sell land from 11 cotton gins worth 27 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.5 billion), after reclassifying the companies’ legal purpose from industrial activity to real estate.

Egypt is working on selling shares in at least 23 state-owned companies over the next few years across several sectors to help boost public finances.

The finance minister has said that in October Egypt will begin selling an additional 4.5 percent of cigarette maker Eastern Company’s shares, as well as a 20 percent stake in Alexandria Mineral Oils Company (AMOC).

The state owns vast swathes of Egypt’s economy, including three of its largest banks along with much of its oil industry and real estate sector.