Telecom Egypt

Telecom Egypt is the main telephone company in Egypt.

History

2023: Egypt sold 9.5% to Telecom Egypt

On May 14, 2023, the Egyptian Ministry of Finance announced the sale of a 9.5% stake in the state-owned telecom company Telecom Egypt. The transaction amount is 3.75 billion Egyptian pounds (approximately $121.37 million at the exchange rate as of May 15, 2023).

According to Reuters, the deal is being carried out in order to promote the state privatization program. Under the terms of the transaction, 162.2 million Telecom Egypt shares will be sold at a price of 23.11 Egyptian pounds (approximately $0.75) each. Another 0.5% of the operator's securities are offered to Telecom Egypt employees: they can be purchased until May 25, 2023.

Telecom Egypt headquarters in Cairo

The sale will reduce the government's stake in Telecom Egypt to 70% from the previous 80%, and the remaining 20% will be in circulation on the Egyptian Exchange. According to available information, the transaction is supervised by two local investment banks - CI Capital and Ahly Pharos. Egypt seeks to attract foreign currency through the sale of its assets. At the same time, it is not specified how much of the sold shares of Telecom Egypt will be acquired by foreign buyers.

In December 2022, Egypt promised the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce state participation in the economy and allow private companies to take on a more important role. In addition, it was decided to slow down state investment in national projects. In February 2023, Prime Minister Mustafa Kemal Madbuli unveiled a list of more than 30 state-owned companies in which shares will be sold to investors. These include the National Water Production and Bottling Company (Safi) and the oil corporation Wataniya Petroleum. On April 29, 2023, Madbuli announced that by the end of June of the same year it was planned to sell assets worth about $2 billion, which would help close a number of external debt obligations.^[1]

Notes