Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt aims to raise stakes of four or six state-owned firms listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) this year in a bid to collect between EGP 12 billion and EGP 15 billion ($679 million - $848 million), finance minister Amr El-Garhy said.  

Moreover, the government plans to carry out IPOs for 18 firms during 2019 to raise between EGP 30 billion and EGP 40 billion, the minister added.

In September 2018, Engineering Company For The Petroleum & Process Industries’ (ENPPI) initial public offering (IPO) will be taken place, El-Garhy said, noting that the rest of companies are in the banking, industrial, and petrochemical sectors.

El-Garhy noted that the ministry would discuss with investment banks the need to sell stakes of the state-owned companies through issuing global depositary receipts (GDRs).

On Sunday, the finance ministry said that about 23 firms will be listed on the EGX with a total value of EGP 80 billion.

The state’s IPOs programme aims to expand ownership base, raise the EGX’s market capitalisation, in addition to increasing trading value and volume.