B Investments and MTI have invested EGP 505 mn in EZ International: Private equity firm B Investments and EGX-listed MM Group(MTI ) have together invested some EGP 505 mn in newly-established pharma logistics firm EZ International, B Investments’ IR head Omar El Labban told Enterprise yesterday.

Who invested what? B Investments has put in EGP 300 mn, it said in an EGX disclosure (pdf) yesterday, while MTI invested EGP 205 mn. The investment was made through B Investment’s pharma sector SPV B Pharma, in which MTI recently acquired a 40% stake in return for its EGP 205 mn investment. B Investments continues to hold the other 60%. B Pharma’s entire capital has now been deployed into EZ International, El Labban said.

EZ International: The Sovereign Fund of Egypt’s healthcare sub-fund and B Investments in May set up EZ International, a pharma logistics and distribution firm in partnership with pharma chain El Ezaby. EZ International offers everything from logistics and administrative support to trade and distribution services to local pharma companies. El Ezaby owns a 51% stake in EZ International.

It’s all connected: The SFE earlier this year acquired a 49% stake in El Ezaby.

Where is the money going? EZ International aims to expand El Ezaby’s presence, with plans to double the number of its branches to 500 over the next five years, El Labban previously told us. The company will start deploying funds to carry out the expansion plans “immediately,” El Labban said.

Part of a bigger plan: B Investments and the SFE earlier this year unveiled plans to invest in Egypt’s healthcare and pharma industries under two agreements that could channel more than EGP 2 bn into the sector.

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