B Investments approves share swap ratio value for Orascom Financial Holding acquisition

The board of directors of B Investments has approved the company’s mandatory purchase offer (MTO) and swap ratio for its upcoming acquisition of Orascom Financial Holding Company (OFH), according to a new stock market filing on Tuesday.

The acquisition, which will see B Investments purchase up to 90% of OFH, was announced back in June.

Tuesday’ bourse filing stated that the BoD has agreed with a report from its independent financial adviser BDO for Financial Consulting concerning the fair value of B Investments’ share price and the MTO share swap ratio.

The acquisition will be implemented through a share swap without a cash option. The swap ratio was explained as 1 B Investments share per 56.76 shares of OFH, with a possible purchase of up to 4.2 billion shares (90% of OFH) available.

The deal will take place after excluding treasury shares amounting to 524.6 million shares.

The stock market filing clarified that B Investments is finalizing procedures required to increase its issued share capital from LE 800 million to a maximum of LE 1.174 billion to a par value of LE 5 per share to accommodate the approved share swap ratio.

The EGX requires companies to increase its capital prior to an acquisition using a share swap, according to the Financial Regulatory Authority’s website.

The additional capital will be designated for the shareholders of OFH looking to swap their existing shares to B Investments by depositing their shares with their custodians, according to the filing.