EFG Hermes concluded on Tuesday its advisory to Medsofts Group on its sale of a 50% stake to Archer Daniels Midland Co., according to a press release by EFG Hermes Monday. EFG Hermes acted as sole financial adviser for Medsofts Group. The value of the transaction, which is expected to be executed early 2016, was not disclosed. Medsofts, a family-owned company, is a group of supply chain companies that provide value-added commodity trading, processing, and logistics services in Egypt and the wider MENA region, including a 50% ownership in Nile Stevedoring & Storage Co. (NSSC) that operates one of the largest grain port facilities in Egypt located at the Port of Alexandria. Amr Fikry, Managing Director at EFG Hermes Investment Banking, said: "This Medsofts transaction demonstrates the attractive fundamentals and diversity that Egypt's economy offers to international investors." He pointed out that the transaction will lead to an international merchandising operation that handles more than 1.5m metric tonnes of grains, oil-seeds and soft commodities annually in MENA, as well as a grain distribution operation and inland logistics network in the domestic market. Ahmed El-Guindy, EFG Hermes' head of investment banking, said transaction caps witnessed a strong year for EFG Hermes Investment Banking's mergers and acquisitions in 2015, as the Egyptian market attracted significant global interest from foreign investors throughout the year. He pointed out that EFG Hermes has executed important transactions in 2015, including the sale of confectioner Radshidi El-Mizan to Olayan Group, the acquisition of Fawry by a consortium of investors led by London's Helios Investment Partners, and the sale of Schweppes' Egyptian assets to the Coca-Cola Co. EFG Hermes has concluded transactions worth more than $1.4bn for its clients with the implementation of seven capital market transactions, with over 70% of the equity raised having been sourced from international investors, El-Guindy added. It is of note that Zaki Hashem & Partners acted as Medsofts Group's legal advisors in the aforementioned transaction.
