Egypt’s privatisation programme: Updates, potential moves

The key target of this action is bridging the $17 billion financing gap Egypt will witness over four years, providing US dollar liquidity in the local market, and opening a wide door for the private sector to play a greater role in the local economy by increasing its share in the economic activity to 65 percent instead of 30 percent.

This comes as a clear commitment from the Egyptian side to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under its Extended Fund Facility for the country that allows it to receive a $3 billion loan in tranches through FY2025/2026.

All eyes on PACHIN

PACHIN, a state-owned company specialised in manufacturing paints, has recently received two offers from local and Arab investors to acquire 100 percent of the company shares.

The company, which is already listed in the Egyptian stock market with 55 percent of its shares owned by the government, is among the 32 state-owned companies Egypt offers under the IPO programme.

The competition is ramping up between an Egyptian and a UAE company to acquire PACHIN.

On Monday, Egypt-based Eagle Chemicals raised the share price of the company to EGP 37, up from the initial price set at EGP 34 and above the UAE company’s proposed price of EGP 36.

The UAE National Paints submitted a request to Egypt’s EGX in March to acquire 100 percent of the Egyptian company with a price of EGP 34 per share.

The company this week raised the price of the share to EGP 36, after receiving the approval of Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). An Egyptian company had earlier offered to acquire the company with a price of EGP 35 per share.

The FRA has also prolonged the validity of the purchase for one day to end on 4 April.