The Egyptian arm of UAE-based real estate developer, Emaar Misr, has announced it is finalising the required approvals regarding the stock market listing, the company said in a Wednesday statement. Approvals are yet to be obtained from the Egyptian Financial supervisory Authority (EFSA) and the Egyptian Stock Market (EGX) regarding the initial public offering (IPO). Emaar Misr's IPO will encompass an offering of up to 600m shares, representing 13% of the company's post-offer share capital, the company noted. The share listing will include public offering to retail investors and a private placement to local and international institutions. The offer price is yet to be determined, the company said. Parent-firm Emaar will keep 87% of its shares in Emaar Misr after listing. Early this month, Emaar Misr has approved the independent financial advisor's recommendation, setting the fair price of shares at maximum EGP 4. Emaar Misr has outlined it aims to raise EGP 2.8bn through issuing 600m shares on the bourse. Trading on the company's shares is expected to begin by mid-June, a company official told the Daily News Egypt. In February 2015, the EGX announced that Emaar Misr formally requested listing its shares on the stock market. In early April, the company announced it was considering making amendments in the company's leadership. At a 20 April meeting, however, Chairman Mohamed Alabbar retained his position, as shareholders reselected him for the role. Emaar Properties registered $912m in profits in 2014, a 30% increase compared to the $699m profits recorded the year before. The company said that approximately 54% of its total revenues came from shopping malls, retail and hospitality businesses. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2015, a 462% increase in profits was registered, as the company recorded EGP 172.7m in Q1. These figures compared to EGP 30.7m in net profits in the corresponding quarter in 2014.
