Qalaa Holdings, one of Egypt's largest investment companies, has approved a share swap with subsidiary companies that equates to a 1.7 billion Egyptian pound ($223 million) capital increase, the company said on Sunday. Two sources had revealed the capital increase to Reuters on Saturday. The move is the company's third capital hike since it listed on the Egyptian bourse in 2010 and comes as it considers a series of money-raising divestments aimed at returning to profit. Qalaa will issue up to an additional 340 million shares, worth 1.7 billion Egyptian pounds, the statement said. "This will hasten our return to profitability during 2015, one year earlier than originally anticipated, and will open the way for dividend distribution in the coming years," Qalaa Chairman Ahmed Heikal said in the statement. Qalaa co-founder and managing director Hisham El-Khazindar said "further increasing Qalaa's ownership in its core subsidiaries at attractive valuations will allow us to maximise earnings over the medium and long term". On Wednesday Qalaa said it had hired investment bank EFG Hermes to advise it on the possible sale of its food businesses, a deal which the conglomerate said would help it return to profit this year. Qalaa, which is seeking to raise $300 million over the medium term through divestments, is considering the sale of confectioner Rashidi El-Mizan and dairy producer Dina Farms, Chairman Heikal has said. Qalaa has some $9.5 billion in assets under management, with dozens of firms mainly in Egypt, east and north Africa. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/123620.aspx
