(xxSE) Two high-profile Saudi investors are separately eyeing investments and acquisitions in Egypt that could together be worth north of half a bn USD, their leaders said yesterday in Cairo. The top execs of Al Lami Group and Batterjee Holding were in town as part of a visiting Saudi business delegation.

#1- Al Lami Holding Group is aiming to invest some USD 500 mn in Egypt over the next two years in tourism and real estate, company head Muhammad Talaat Al Lami said in an interview with Asharq Business.

The details: Al Lami plans to open a 500-room hotel in Sharm El Sheikh worth USD 50 mn next year, Al Lami shared. It has also obtained a development license for an 85-acre, USD 100 mn project in the Green Belt area of Sixth October City, where they will break ground on a residential project and commercial mall in the first half of next year.

Al Lami is already a player in our tourism industry, with some USD 3 bn invested in the country, including three hotels in Sharm El Sheikh with a capacity of 2k rooms. By our math, that equates to roughly 1% of our entire hotel room stock.

BATTERJEE EYES PHARMA ACQUISITION

#2- KSA’s Batterjee is eyeing a potential acquisition of an EGX-listed pharma company: Batterjee Holding Group is reportedly interested in acquiring an EGX-listed pharma company in the next six months, the company’s chairman, Mazen Batterjee, said in an interview. He did not hint at names, but even pricing-in this year’s rally, a number of players look particularly well-priced right now in USD terms.

Acquisition talk aside, Batterjee has investments of about USD 55 mn in the pipeline:

  • The group intends to invest some USD 50 mn in the medical and pharma sectors here over the next two years;
  • A factory producing medical supplies and incubators could also be in the works, with an initial price tag of c. USD 5 mn.

What a week for Saudi investments: Al Lami and Batterjee were speaking during the visit to Cairo of a high-profile Saudi business delegation led by Saudi Trade Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, for a meeting of the Saudi-Egyptian Business Council. Council member Turki Al Hokair said yesterday that his company would invest as much as USD 1.5 bn here next year in a range of sectors. And more Saudi investment news is likely coming our way with the Egy-GCC Business Forum kicking off tomorrow.

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