ENERGY-

#1-Capricorn plans big investor payouts under new leadership: The board of oil and gas firm Capricorn Energy last week said it could pay out as much as USD 575 mn to investors in the next 12 months. The move comes as the company wraps a strategic review following the ousting of its former board by investors led by activist investor Palliser Capital, killing a proposed merger with Israeli energy firm NewMed Energy. “We are not in the business of building war chests in the new Capricorn,” new chair Craig van der Laan is quoted as telling Reuters.

Pivot to Egypt: The payouts include a USD 450 mn special dividend in May, and another potential USD 100 mn dividend in 4Q — depending on revenues and other outcomes at the firm’s Egyptian business, van der Laan said. The company has some USD 97 mn in receivables outstanding from Egypt. Capricorn will “materially scale back all exploration spend outside Egypt and monetize, farm-down or exit all other exploration positions” while “maximizing value of Egypt by optimizing investment, well selection and rig performance,” according to its statement.

New CEO has local experience: Capricorn also announced it had chosen Randy Neely (LinkedIn) as its new chief executive. Neely is the former president and CEO of Egypt-focused Canadian operator TransGlobe Energy.

#2- Could Germany’s Wintershall store carbon here? Wintershall Dea is studying potential offshore carbon storage sites in Egypt and Argentina, reports Carbon Economist, as the company looks to broaden the scope of its carbon capture and storage (CCS) operations beyond Europe. This comes almost a year after the German company signed a two-year MoU with state-owned Egas last year to explore CCS and low-carbon hydrogen projects in Egypt.

#3- Private-sector players given green light to establish small-scale power stations: The Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (Egyptera) has handed out permits to companies to establish electricity generators with a combined capacity of 48 MWs, agency head Mohamed Moussa told Al Borsa. The permits were awarded to Intro Group subsidiary Intro Power and Utilities, Interstate Paper Industries, Petrobel — a JV between Eni and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, land reclamation company Lina Company, and Ascom Geology and Mining.

FINTECH-

State-owned Banque Misr plans to launch a new e-payments company within the next three months, Asharq Business reports, citing two unnamed sources it says are familiar with the matter. The state-owned lender is awaiting a license to launch the firm, which will bring new e-payments products and services to the market, the sources said, without revealing further details. Banque Misr currently owns a c.10% stake in e-payments giant Fawry.

AUTOMOTIVE-

It just got easier for expats to bring their cars into Egypt: The Customs Authority has approved further facilities for the import of passenger cars for expats living in Egypt, Egyptian expats, and tourists, according to a statement. The changes allow passenger vehicles to be temporarily released for up to six months, and replace custom duties and other fees with a payment of up to USD 275.

No, this is not the expat car import scheme:The move was introduced in 2020 with the aim of attracting FX into Egypt and helping people bring in their passenger vehicles from abroad during the time of the coronavirus, when travel was suspended.

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