Banque du Caire to list its shares in first half of year

Wednesday 01-02-2017 06:15 PM

Banque du Caire - Reuters

By Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian state-run lender Banque du Caire will list its shares in the first half of the year as part of the government's plan to sell some stakes in state assets to strengthen the Egyptian stock market and attract investors.

The Cairo stock exchange said that the bank had submitted a formal listing request.

The bank has 2.25 billion Egyptian pounds ($119.17 million) in capital distributed over 562.5 million shares at a nominal value of 4 pounds per share, it said.

The company will list on the stock market next week and undergo an initial public offering (IPO) by the first half of this year, market sources later told Reuters, describing it as the biggest stock offering since 2010.

EFG-Hermes and HSBC had been selected as consultants for the initial public offer.

Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer had said in March that the government plans to offer 20 percent of Banque du Caire as well as a 40 percent stake in the Arab African International Bank (AAIB), in which the central bank owns a stake.

Egypt has been struggling to revive its economy since a popular uprising in 2011 drove away tourists and foreign investors.

On Nov. 3 the central bank abandoned its peg of 8.8 per dollar, allowing the pound to halve in value. The stock market rallied in response to the float.

($1 = 18.8800 Egyptian pounds)

 

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; writing by Asma Alsharif; editing by Jason Neely and Louise Heavens)

 

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