Orascom Construction to raise up to $241 mln in Egypt share offer

Orascom Construction plans to raise as much as $241 million in a sale of new shares in Egypt over the next few weeks, in a move that could help to re-energise Cairo's stock market after years of political and economic turmoil.

The company, which will offer up to 15.8 million new shares representing 15 percent of its ordinary equity capital, said on Thursday that it would price the shares at between $13.33 and $15.23 each.

A bookbuilding process to determine the final price for institutional investors starts this Thursday and will end next Thursday, Orascom Construction said in a statement. Retail investors will then be offered shares between March 1 and 4 at the same price.

A company official, speaking on condition of anonymity, subsequently told Reuters that the size of the offer was likely to be about 10 percent of ordinary equity capital, but a final decision had not been made.