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INVESTMENT-
B Investments’ board signed off on investing up to EGP 500 mn in the Sovereign Fund of Egypt’s (SFE) healthcare and pharma sub-fund, it said in a statement to the bourse (pdf) on Wednesday. The investment is one of two agreements the firm signed with the SFE in January that could channel more than EGP 2 bn into local healthcare and pharma businesses.
REFRESHER- The SFE is looking to draw an initial EGP 1.2 bn for the sub-fund, and hopes to raise additional capital down the line. It will invest in local pharma players to help them expand into under-served cities around the country and improve their digital offering. The fund had also agreed to invest EGP 100 mn in B Healthcare Investments, which aims to raise up to EGP 1 bn to deploy in the specialized healthcare sector, with B Investments contributing an additional EGP 200 mn.
CAPITAL MARKETS-
Edita is buying back another 1% of its shares: EGX-listed Edita Food Industries will buy back 7.23 mn of its shares at EGP 14.50 apiece, it said in an EGX bulletin on Wednesday. The move takes the company’s buyback program, first announced last summer, to 5.8% of its share capital.
Buybacks have helped lift the company’s share price: Edita stock has climbed almost 90% since the company first announced the buyback program in August. Shares closed at EGP 15.02 on Thursday after rising 2.9% during the session. Investors have, meanwhile, had appetite for the company’s shares on the back of its strong sales despite the economic headwinds of the past 12 months.
COMMODITIES-
No sugar exports for three months: The Trade Ministry has banned the export of sugar for three months, effective last Tuesday, 21 March, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette. Exports of any “excess” supply of sugar could go ahead with approval from the ministry, according to the decree.
ENERGY-
Capricorn to cut its UK headcount as it shifts focus to Egypt: The new board of oil and gas firm Capricorn Energy on Thursday said it will cut its UK workforce to less than 40 people in the next two months as it quits other markets to maximize allocations to its operations here, according to a company statement. Capricorn is set to announce the full results of its comprehensive strategic review on 27 April, the statement reads.
REMEMBER- Pressure from shareholders led by activist investor Palliser Capital led Capricorn’s former board to resign en masse back in January, killing a proposed merger with Israeli energy firm NewMed Energy.
