CAIRO: The Egyptian government said on Tuesday it was offering 17 percent of Egypt Aluminum at a minimum of LE 54 ($9.42) a share, giving the company a value of at least LE 6.75 billion. The offer is split into 8.75 million shares, or 7 percent of the company, by public subscription, and 12.5 million shares, or 10 percent of the company, by private placement among big investors, the Investment Ministry said. The offer opens on Feb. 26 and lasts 30 days, it said. Egypt s Prime Securities initiated coverage of the mainly state-owned company in December at the equivalent of LE 63.60 a share. The company, Egypt s only primary producer of aluminum, made a net profit of LE 225.4 million in the first half of 2005/6 (July-December), a 41 percent increase over the same period of 2004, the stock exchange said on Sunday. It runs a smelter in the south Egyptian town of Naga Hammadi, set up to take electricity from the Aswan High Dam. The current majority shareholder is the state s Holding Company for Metallurgical Industries, with 92.2 percent of the 125 million shares. Some of the other shares are traded on the Egyptian stock exchange, where they closed on Monday at LE 59.23. The ministry said in an advertisement that applicants for public subscription shares can ask for between 100 and 5,000 shares. In the private placement, they must ask for at least 50,000 and no more than 500,000 shares, it added. For the IPO the offer is at a fixed price of LE 54, while for the private placement the price will be decided by online auction in a trading session to be fixed after the public subscription operation is complete, it said. If the public subscription is fully subscribed within 11 days of opening, the managers can close the offer, it added. The sale, with a value of at least LE 1.15 billion, will be the biggest in the government s privatization program since it raised over LE 5 billion through the sale of 20 percent of Telecom Egypt in December. Agencies
