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Iconic Omar Effendi chain to return to Egyptian hands Omar Effendi, the long embattled chain store, appears set to return to Egyptian public ownership after a much-criticised and economically disastrous privatisation attempt
Egypt is awaiting a court ruling scheduled for 7 May that would help restore to public ownership its iconic department store chain Omar Effendi, says Egyptian Public Sector Enterprise Authority representative Adel Mowazi. Mowazitold Ahram Online that the authority welcomes the restoration of the historic chain, and is ready to put forward the necessary plans that would help revive the store. Lawyer Hamdi El Fakharani has recently filed a lawsuit claiming that the privatisation of Omar Effendi was invalid as it was sold at a quarter of its value. Also, Yahia Hussein Abdel-Hadi, coordinator of the "No to selling Egypt" movement, in February presented a case to the prosecutor general against Mahmoud Mohieldin in relation to the Omar Effendi deal, in which he accused Mohieldin, the ex-minister of Investment and head of the General Trade Holding Company, of intentionally losing public money through the sale of the department store to the Saudi Anwal Company in a deal that was LE700 million less than the estimate of the official value assessment. Omar Effendi was losing ground until 2006, when it was sold to the Saudi company Anwal Group. The chain has only seen losses since and is still heavily in debt. Last December, an acquisition deal was dropped. The Arab Investment Development Company (AID), which was due to buy an 85 per cent stake in the stores, cancelled the deal as Anwal didn't pay its financial obligations to the tax authority, which seized control of the department store's bank accounts in order to collect some LE98 million ($17.5 million) in unpaid taxes since the store was privatised. Omar Effendi was established in 1856 and is one of Egypt's most famous chain stores.
