It looks like ramping up privatization efforts is going to be one of the state’s New Year’s resolutions, with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly announcing in his weekly presser that the government is planning to offer up stakes in ten state-owned companies in 2025. The offerings will be via direct sales to strategic investors and/or through EGX listing.

Speculation over which four military-linked companies would be heading to the EGX was also ended, as the prime minister confirmed that filling station operator Wataneya and bottled water company Safi will be offered on the EGX by mid-2025. The two companies have been on the privatization chopping block for at least four years, but efforts to sell stakes in both companies haven’t materialized, despite attracting numerous suitors. Fellow military-owned food manufacturer Silo Foods and fuel retailer Chill Out are also on the list of companies destined for IPOs, which Madbouly said would happen towards the end of the year. While this is the first time we’ve heard about plans for Silo Foods, then-Planning Minister Hala El Said earmarked Chill Out for a sale back in December 2023.

The list also includes two banks, namely Banque du Caire, whose IPO has been repeatedly delayed for years due to poor market conditions. Second on the list is Alexbank, which the state was negotiating to sell its remaining 20% stake in to the owner of the other 80% Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo Group, according to what a government source told EnterpriseAM in September. This came after the state successfully sold a 30% stake in the CBE-owned United Bank, which hit the EGX earlier this week following a heavily oversubscribed IPO.

Two pharma companies on the government’s list of 35 state-owned companies earmarked forprivatization were also mentioned, with the prime minister namechecking state-owned pharma manufacturer HoldiPharma subsidiaries CID Pharma and Misr Pharma. While Madbouly didn’t elaborate on how they will offer up the companies, unconfirmed reports out earlier in October said HoldiPharma is looking to offer stakes in both companies on the EGX during the first half of 2025.

Alamal Alsharif Plastics was also named, but again with no further details of the plan for selling off a stake in the state-owned company. However, unconfirmed reports in April alleged that the government was planning to exit a 46.6% stake — via a collection of state owned banks — in the company by selling it to a strategic investor.

Long-time privatization target Gabal El Zeit is once again a priority in the privatization list. Unconfirmed reports in October said that ongoing negotiations between the Madbouly government and UK-based private equity giant Actis to purchase the 580-MW wind farm were working towards reaching an agreement by the end of the current year. The negotiations reportedly revolved around the state’s desire to increase the value of the acquisition — which the IMF projected in March to be around USD 339 mn.

The global business press also picked up the story: Bloomberg.

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