Egypt’s Sovereign Fund adds 5 state and military owned firms to its pre-IPO fund

As the Egyptian government prepares to re-launch its privatisation drive, the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) has added five state- and military-owned businesses to its pre-IPO fund, according to Bloomberg Asharq, which cited two sources it claims are knowledgeable about the situation.

Two military-owned firms — bottled drinks firm Safi and fuel retailer Wataniya — are in the fund, alongside Banque du Caire, Misr Life Ins., and Egyptian Linear Alkyl Benzene (Elab).

The fund will offer a 20-30% stake in these companies to strategic investors. In a roadshow this month, the SFE will promote the businesses to local and foreign strategic investors.

According to SFE CEO Ayman Soliman, a number of Arab sovereign wealth funds have showed interest in buying stock in the military companies.

Reminder: The SFE set up its pre-IPO fund in September to prepare state-owned companies for eventual listing on the EGX. It will sell shares in a number of companies to strategic investors before proceeding with public share sales when global market conditions have improved.