Egypt's e-finance Offers 14.5% of Capital in IPO

The Egyptian state-controlled electronic payments company for digital and financial investments "e-finance" said on Sunday that it will offer up to 14.5% of its capital in an initial public offering (IPO) in Q4 of 2021.

e-finance said in a statement that it is the only entity authorized to operate the government's financial network, including processing and settling payment and collection transactions.

e-finance said it will offer 177.8 million new shares to the stock exchange market and 80 million shares owned by existing shareholders, to institutional and retail investors.

Among its shareholders are three state-owned banks: the National Investment Bank with 63.64%, the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr, each with 9.09%.

The Egyptian Banks Company, led by the central bank, and the Egyptian Company for Investment Projects each own another 9.09%.

e-finance’s revenue rose to 1.23 billion Egyptian pounds ($78 million) in 2020 and 904 million pounds in the first half of 2021, a 2018-20 compound annual growth rate of 30%, it said.

e-finance revenues rose to EGP 1.23 billion in 2020 and EGP 904 million in H1 of 2021, with an annual growth rate of 30% between 2018/20.

The government announced in 2018 that it intended to sell minority stakes in nearly two dozen companies, but these sales have been repeatedly delayed by a market downturn and the pandemic.

In May, Egypt sold a majority 51% stake in state-owned Arab Investment Bank to privately owned EFG Hermes.