Investment firm Qalaa Holding announced it received no subscriptions to increase its capital during a one month period, as part of its invitation to old shareholders. Qalaa announced its willingness to increase its capital from EGP 8bn to EGP 9.7bn, distributed over 340m shares at EGP 5 per share, the company said in a statement to the Egyptian Stock Market (EGX). In June, Qalaa Holding signed an agreement with Financial Holding International (FHI) to sell to FHI some of Qalaa's units, with the aim of exiting some non-basic businesses and reducing consolidated debts. Earlier in March, Qalaa assigned international investment bank Renaissance Capital to study obtaining international funds for the company. Qalaa also announced its intention to exit its remaining food businesses, hiring investment bank EFG Hermes to advise on the possibility of divestiture. The two food companies are Egypt's giant confectioner Rashidi El-Mizan and private-sector milk producer Dina Farms, Qalaa said in a statement. It clarified that the news arrives following its announcement on Monday to generate $300m in the medium-term through exiting non-core projects. On 4 February, Qalaa exited its 80% stake in investment bank Pharos Holding for Financial Investment, at a value of EGP 40m. A group of investors led by Pharos Holding's chairman Mohamed Taymour acquired the sold stakes, with Qalaa's subsidiary Finance Unlimited. Managing director and co-founder of Qalaa Hisham El-Khazindar said at the beginning of this year that the company's exiting of non-core projects would accelerate the deleveraging of Qalaa. It would also fund growth opportunities in core subsidiaries, such as energy projects. Qalaa Holding, formerly known as Citadel Capital, currently owns assets amounting to $9.5bn. The company is also investing in the Suez Canal Development project through three of its subsidiaries. The group's cement subsidiary, ASEC, is acting along with 32 other companies to dig the new Suez Canal.
