Qatar could be looking to invest in Egypt’s hospitality sector: The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is considering acquiring a minority stake in seven hotels in Egypt, Reuters reports, citing two people it says have knowledge of the matter. The Qatari sovereign wealth fund is in negotiations with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) and is looking to acquire up to 30% of the hotels, the people said.

The seven hotels are: The Cairo Marriott Hotel, Steigenberger El Tahrir in Cairo, Marriott Mena House at the Giza pyramids, Sofitel Legend Old Cataract in Aswan, Mövenpick Aswan, Sofitel Winter Palace in Luxor, and Steigenberger Cecil Alexandria, according to Reuters.

That sounds a lot like the new hotels holding company that’s up for grabs: The government earlier this year bundled seven of its five-star properties nationwide into one firm that will offer shares as part of the Madbouly government’s privatization program. The full list of hotels is yet to be disclosed, though the head of the government’s Holding Company for Tourism and Hotels (HOTAC) has said that the Cairo Marriott and Marriott Mena House are included. A government source told us earlier this year that most of the interest in the sale was coming from Gulf funds.

A bigger sale than initially planned? Public Enterprises Minister Mahmoud Esmat in February said the government would offer a 20% stake in the new holding company to a strategic investor followed by a 5% offering on the bourse. We expect the state to execute the transaction with the strategic via a capital increase in order to raise funds to deploy as part of a growth and turnaround plan. The company is currently joint-owned by HOTAC and the Egyptian General Company for Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH)

These aren’t the only assets the QIA has shown interest in: The QIA is reportedly close toacquiring a 25-30% stake in Vodafone Egypt from Telecom Egypt, and earlier this year reportedly submitted an offer to take majority stakes in the Damietta and Port Said container terminal operators, though talks are said to have stalled over the size of the stake on offer. A government source told us last week that agreements with the fund on Vodafone Egypt, ports, and oil sector firms could be announced before Agust.

REMEMBER- Qatar pledged last year to invest as much as USD 5 bn in Egypt under Gulf efforts to support the economy, which is suffering a prolonged FX shortage due to the war in Ukraine and rising global rates.

FROM THE RUMOR MILL-

EIPICO denies receiving an acquisition offer: The EGX-listed Egyptian International Pharma Industries (EIPICO) has denied knowledge of a media report out Monday that claimed Saudi investors were interested in acquiring a 75% stake in the company, citing informed sources. In an EGX disclosure (pdf) filed yesterday, the state-owned pharma company said that it has not received any acquisition offers as of yet.

EIPICO already has Saudi shareholders: Saudi wealth fund PIF acquired a 4.7% stake in EIPICO last year and local media has previously reported that the Saudi sovereign fund intends to up its stake in the drugmaker.

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