The Egyptian Stock Exchange's (EGX) screens witnessed the implementation of deals on five Egyptian stocks on Tuesday, which are Fawry, the Commercial International Bank (CIB), Alexandria Container Handling, MOPCO, and Abu Qir Fertilisers with a total value of deals amounting to $1.8bn. Press reports indicated that the UAE sovereign fund (ADQ) is looking to acquire stakes in five Egyptian companies with a value of up to $2bn and that it held talks with Egypt to invest about $2bn by buying state-owned stakes in some companies, especially the CIB. The shares that were bought are as follows: 17.1% from the CIB, 21.25% from Abu Qir Fertilisers, 33% from Alexandria Container Handling, 12.6% from Fawry, and 20% from MOPCO. A deal was executed on the shares of Fawry for Banking and Payment Technologies worth $68.59m on 215.1m shares at an average price of $0.318 per share, while the value of the deal on the CIB's shares amounted to $911.4m on 340m shares with an average price of about $2.68. The EGX also announced the implementation of a deal on 476.7m shares of Alexandria Container Handling worth $186m at an average price per share of $0.33, and another deal on MOPCO at a value of $266.5m at an average share price of $5.49, and finally 271m shares of Abu Qir Fertilisers with a value of $391m with an average share price of $1.44. Mohamed Hassan — Managing Director of Bloom Egypt Asset Management — said that the entry of a large investment institution such as the UAE sovereign fund is a strong opportunity and has a very positive impact on the market for the long term. He added that the stock prices in the deals are lower than the fair values of those shares but attracting major institutions to provide dollar cash is an important factor for the Egyptian market. He added that the proceeds of the sale may be directed by the government to invest in the money market, which will support the market during the coming period.
