Good afternoon, wonderful people. We come to you after bringing a close to the second and final day of the Enterprise Finance Forum, which we’re very happy to report was another full house and again brought insightful conversations on stage. On behalf of all of our guests, our sponsors, and our partners, thank you to everyone who joined us on stage.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

#1- Chevron plans to invest USD 3 bn in 1H 2024 to develop their block in the Nargis natural gas concession in the Eastern Mediterranean, Asharq Business reports, citing an official source it says has knowledge of the matter.

#2- Toma has its eyes on Dice: Clothing company Dice Sports and Casual Wear has received a preliminary offer from a consortium of Toma for Commercial and Industrial Investments and Dice shareholder Maged Toma for the acquisition of a 90% stake in the company at EGP 0.65 per share, Dice said in a disclosure (pdf) to the EGX. The offer, which is targeting 1.6 bn shares, is worth EGP 1.045 bn, by our math.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Threats to trade ties between Canada and India are leading the conversation in the international business press this afternoon. The crumbling relations between the two nations reached a new height when Canada accused India of the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia in June. Diplomatic ties have already been strained with India’s disdain of Sikh separatist activity in the western nation, although matters have been strained further by Canada’s decision to remove India’s top intelligence officer from the country while the South Asian nation has given a senior Canadian diplomat 5-days notice. (Reuters | Financial Times | Associated Press | Bloomberg | Washington Post | The Wall Street Journal)

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

  • That ACUD IPO is still alive: The company in charge of developing the new administrative capital could move forward with an IPO on the EGX during the first half of 2024.
  • Another Gulf acquisition of an Egyptian pharma group in the works? A number of Gulf investors are interested in acquiring a stake in distressed pharma wholesaler United Company of Pharmacists.
  • SCZone wants a big loan to fund green hydrogen projects: The General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) is on course to take out a 15-year, EGP 30 bn loan from a syndicate of local banks to finance the infrastructure for a number of green hydrogen projects.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect a high of 33°C in the daytime and a cooler 23°C in the evening, according to our favorite weather app.

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