Egypt has begun work on a plan to list 10 state-owned companies, including four owned by the armed forces, on the stock exchange before March 31, as a prelude to selecting offering managers and underwriters and executing the offerings in the final quarter of this year, a government source told Al Manassa.
The source, familiar with the government’s IPO file inside the Cabinet and speaking to Al Manassa on condition of anonymity, said an initial assessment points to listing about 10 companies, though the number could change depending on valuations and reviews to be conducted over the next 30 days.
The companies expected to be listed so far include four armed forces-owned firms: Wataniya, Safi, ChillOut, and Silo Foods Industries, the source said. The others are Bank of Cairo, Bank of Alexandria, the Gabal El-Zeit wind farm, Alamal Alsharif Plastics, Misr Pharmaceuticals, and CID Pharma.
In March 2023, Egypt launched a program to sell stakes in 40 companies and banks across 18 economic sectors to the private sector. The program was originally set to run through March 2024 before being extended to December of the same year.
Last Wednesday, the government said in a press statement that it is preparing files for 60 companies it owns, with the intention of moving 40 of them to the sovereign fund and listing the other 20 on the stock exchange, without specifying a date, a mechanism, or the companies’ names.
The Cabinet in December approved completing procedures for offering the Gabal El-Zeit wind power station, owned by the New and Renewable Energy Authority, under the IPO program. Authorities have not clarified whether the transaction would involve a full sale or a long-term usufruct agreement.
The proposed offering of Gabal El-Zeit in 2024 triggered controversy, with some accusing the government of undervaluing the project. The Planning Ministry denied those claims, saying investors would receive a 25-year usufruct, after which ownership of the plant and land would revert to the state.
On Dec. 11, 2024, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the government would offer 10 new companies for investment and on the stock exchange during 2025. But talks between the government and an International Monetary Fund mission over the fifth review of the economic reform program stalled in May because the government refused to shrink its role in a number of key investment sectors, prompting the IMF to raise concerns about the slow pace of the IPO program.
A source familiar with the IMF loan file at the Finance Ministry previously told Al Manassa that Egypt is likely to receive the fourth and fifth tranches, totaling $2.4 billion, in the first week of March or, at the latest, mid-month, in addition to $274 million under the resilience and sustainability program.
