UAE's Abraaj Capital, the Middle East's largest private equity firm, has decided to give up initial public offering (IPO) plans for its Egyptian affiliate, Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (IDH) on Cairo bourse, sources near from the talks announced. IDH was established in 2012 as a result of the merger of Al Mokhtabar and Al Borg Laboratories, and has concluded earlier this month its $290 million IPO on the London Stock Exchange (LSX), becoming the first Egyptian healthcare company to complete a UK offering. Abraaj's withdrawal from the IPO came after Egypt's market regulator, the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) refused to give its approval for a listing on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), the sources told Mubasher. They added that the EFSA's refusal was due to the dual ownership of Al Borg and Al Mokhtabar laboratories, which are owned by the Dubai-based firm, which in turn is owned by another holding company in London. Dubai-based Abraaj previously acquired Egypt's Al Borg and Al Mokhtabar on separate occasions over the past few years prior to their merger under one company, namely IDH. Since then IDH has become the largest diagnostics firm in Egypt, the Middle East and south Asia, with 283 labs across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Jordan. Abraaj acquired Al Borg Laboratories in 2008 in a deal worth 773.3 million Egyptian pounds and later acquired Al Mokhtabar in 2012 in a deal worth 1.27 billion pounds. The sources told Mubasher that Abraaj had founded a holding company in Dubai and announced a dual-listing of the company's stocks on the EGX and the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Abraaj then established another holding company in London and requested that it be listed on the EGX, prompting the EFSA to refuse the listing of more than one company on the exchange, the sources added. The Dubai-based investment firm previously submitted a request to the EGX to list IDH. The exchange accepted the request and the UAE firm paid fees exceeding EGP 1 million. However, the EGX requested an approval from the EFSA, a legal stipulation related to listing regulations for holding and foreign companies. Mubasher was unable to reach Abraaj Capital for a comment. Earlier in May, Abraaj has successively launched the IPO for 43.5% of Egypt's IDH on the LSE, in a deal worth $290 million. The EGX management wanted to complete the IPO and listing as part of its strategy to attract larger entities to make up for the companies that delisted following the 2011 uprising. Abraaj Capital currently manages assets worth $9 billion through more than 20 funds in over 30 countries and emerging markets.
