Brotherhood financiers? BUSINESSMAN Safwan Thabet, founder and chairman of dairy and juice maker Juhayna, and former football star Mohamed Abu Treika were referred to the prosecutor general on allegations of funding the Muslim Brotherhood. The group was banned in September 2013 and is considered a terrorist organisation. Thabet's lawyer told a talk show they found out about the decision from the press and had not received any notification from the prosecutor general's office. All of Thabet's assets were frozen in August. This includes the 7.2 per cent stake Thabet indirectly owned in the Pharon Investment Fund which owns 52 per cent of Juhayna's equity. In May last year, the assets of a tourism company co-owned by Abu Treika were also confiscated. His partner reportedly belonged to the Brotherhood.
Sawiris acquires CI Capital COMMERCIAL International Bank (CIB), Egypt's largest listed commercial bank, signed an agreement to sell CI Capital, its investment bank arm, to Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) for LE924 million. “CIB and Beltone Financial have signed a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) and will move forward to complete the transaction with the aim of finalising it before the end of the first quarter of 2016,” a CIB statement noted. OTMT is co-owned by business tycoon Naguib Sawiris and has investments in technology and cable businesses as well as energy. The group has also been tapping financial markets after it acquired Beltone Financial, another leading investment bank, in November for LE650 million. OTMT plans to merge CI Capital with Beltone Financial to form a financial group cornering almost 25 per cent of the investment bank market.
