CAIRO: Mercury (Egypt) Pharmaceutical Manufacturing SAE announced yesterday the acquisition of a 93 percent stake in Amoun Pharmaceutical Co. (Amoun) for a price of $459 million, which translates to LE 47 per share. The acquisition has been sponsored by a consortium of US and international private equity investors, led by Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVCI), Capital International Private Equity Fund IV (CIPEF) and Concord International Investments, and is one of the largest private equity transactions to occur in Egypt to date. The contract was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and the buyers were Citigroup, Capital International and Concord Investment, a cabinet statement added. A tender offer will be launched by Mercury to acquire the remaining minority shares of 7 percent of Amoun, at a minimum price of LE 47 per share prior to execution of the acquisition on the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange. Chairman of Concord International Investments Mohamed Younes comments, "We are particularly pleased to have two of the world s leading financial institutions making a long-term investment in acquiring one of Egypt s finest companies. When asked how this would affect the Egyptian consumer, Younes said there would be no dramatic changes and that the Ministry of Health would determine the price of products. We acquired 93 percent of the company but are keeping the entire management team and not adding anyone, he told The Daily Star Egypt. The only change would be to expand the company overseas to Western European, African and Middle Eastern nations, he explained. The remaining seven percent of the shares trade freely on the stock exchange and were up five percent at LE 45.31 a share after the announcement of the sale. Under the rules of the Egyptian stock exchange, buyers must offer to buy out the minority shareholders at the same price as they paid to the majority shareholders. Amoun Chairman Sarwat Bassily told Reuters that in June he said he was offering the company for sale because at the age of 66 he wanted to retire and none of his children were interested in the business. Amoun made a net profit of LE 155 million in 2005, a 190 percent increase over the previous year.
