Telecommunication company Raya Holding's Board of Directors has decided to sell its entire share in electronic billing company Fawry, the company told the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) early on Tuesday. The telecommunication company owns 2.51m shares which it will sell to Dutch company BSI BV for EGP 174.24m. Following the deduction of contract expenses and the agreed on commission, which will be paid by Fawry, the value of the sale will amount to EGP 163.66m. Raya Holding has been listed on the EGX since 2005, and operates in the technology hardware and communications equipment sector. The company manages about 10 subsidiaries forming its diversified portfolio. In May, the company announced its plans to discuss raising its capital from EGP 420.5m to EGP 504.6m, a rise worth EGP 84.1m. Earlier this month, Fawry CEO Ashraf Sabry announced that financial transactions via the company's collection network increased in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015 by 50%, compared to the same period the last year. The average size of monthly transactions via Fawry reached over EGP 500m, through 1.2m daily transactions, with a monthly average of 37m transactions. The size of the financial transactions via Fawry over Q1 reached approximately EGP 1.5bn. The electronic payment company is planning to expand in Egypt by increasing its retail outlets to 60,000 by the end of 2015, compared to 40,000 outlets in 2014. Fawry was launched in 2009 with the approval of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). In 2012, the company acquired a $6m fund from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in return for purchasing 18% of the company's shares.
