EFG Hermes has announced that it successfully closed the first securitization issuance worth EGP 651.2m of the EGP 3bn programme for Bedaya Mortgage Finance, Egypt's first non-bank online mortgage provider. The bond is a mortgage backed portfolio of around EGP 1.02bn, assigned to EFG Hermes, the issuance's special purpose vehicle (SPV). This transaction marks the first ever securitization for a real estate mortgage company in Egypt. Commenting on the issuance, Maie Hamdy, Managing Director – Debt Capital Markets at EFG Hermes said, "We are proud to have advised on the first real estate mortgage securitization transaction in the Egyptian market, which has been met with extensive interest from investors, bearing in mind the almost 10-year tenor notwithstanding the current market uncertainty. Taking this step with Bedaya – a joint venture between EFG Hermes Holding, Talaat Moustafa Group, and GB Capital – comes as part of our broader strategy to capitalize on our cross-selling synergies and product diversification that are an essential pillar of our business model and progression. We are very proud of the success of this issuance and attribute it to our team's unwavering commitment to consistent value creation and forward-looking approach." According to the Financial Regulatory Authority's (FRA) report for March 2022, Bedaya ranked fourth in 2021, third in the first quarter of 2022, and second in March 2022. Last year, Bedaya launched Egypt's first non-bank mortgage finance mobile application and online platform, which helped users gain convenient access to numerous mortgage finance offerings seamlessly and rapidly. Bedaya has the fastest turnaround time in the industry and, with a mortgage market that is currently both underserved and under-penetrated, the Firm acts as a conduit expanding accessibility to mortgage financing, which is often a long and cumbersome process. The transaction was done with the combined efforts of Bedaya's in-house securitization team, composed of Bedaya's Heads of Finance, Operations, Credit Risk, and Legal, led by Gina Selim, the General Manager of Bedaya. As the mortgage law came out in 2001 and the first mortgage company was launched in 2003, for the first mortgage bond to come out in 2022 is considered not only a milestone for Bedaya, but also for the entire real estate mortgage industry. Tarek Abou-Gendia, CEO and Managing Director of Bedaya, said: "As a company, we pride ourselves on the sort of consistent innovation that can propel our industry forward, which is why we are very excited to become the first real estate mortgage company in the country to issue a securitization issuance. This transaction will capitalize on the capabilities and cross-selling power of EFG Hermes to move us closer to our long-term expansion plans through broader, more sustainable financial solutions so that we can continue on our mission to extend accessibility to a wider customer base across Egypt's mortgage market."
