Egyptian regulator tells Banque du Caire, others to IPO this year

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority has given Banque du Caire and three other listed companies until the end of the year to sell shares on the stock exchange, two exchange sources told Reuters.

In Egypt, companies are allowed to list on the exchange before actually offering shares to be traded.

The authority said in a statement that companies that had not yet completed offerings would have to do so by Dec. 31. It did not name the companies.

The stock exchange sources told Reuters the companies were Banque du Caire, Egypt’s third-largest state-owned bank, as well as Sky Light for Touristic Development, New Castle for Investment Sports, and City Trade Securities and Brokerage.

Reuters could not immediately reach the companies for comment.

It wasn’t immediately clear if this was a new deadline or an extension of a previous deadline.

The companies are required to submit by Sept. 30 a timeline approved by the stock exchange’s board for how they will implement the offerings, the authority said.

An initial public offering (IPO) for Banque du Caire, which listed on the exchange in February 2017, would represent the biggest sale of Egyptian state assets since 2006.

The bank’s chairman told Reuters in 2020 it was aiming to sell a minority stake worth about $500 million, but the plan was delayed by the pandemic.

The company was one of several state companies earmarked several years ago for share sales, but which have faced repeated delays.