MNT-Halan rises 6.9% on day one

Here are the stories driving the day both at home and abroad. MNT-Halan’s shares closed up 6.9% at EGP 26.20 apiece on their first day of trading today, valuing the fintech’s Egyptian arm at some EGP 41.9 bn and shrugging off a market rattled by regional tensions. MNT Tech Holding for Financial Investments (HALN.CA) gave back most of an intraday rally that took it as high as EGP 28.80, with some 46.2 mn shares worth EGP 1.26 bn changing hands across roughly 21.7k trades. The broader EGX30 closed up 1.94%.

Foreign demand alone could have filled the book, Founder and CEO Mounir Nakhla told EnterpriseAM on the sidelines of today’s bell-ringing ceremony. “In terms of demand, we could have covered it all through international investors, but we chose to allocate to our local partners as well,” Nakhla said, adding that demand came from institutions, hedge funds, long-only funds, and family offices.

REFRESHER- Parent company MNT Investments BV sold 320 mn existing shares, equivalent to a 20% stake, in its Egyptian arm at EGP 24.50 apiece. The fully secondary sale raised EGP 7.84 bn (c. USD 150 mn), making it the EGX’s largest IPO in USD terms since eFinance’s 2021 listing — a title Banque du Caire’s much larger offering is poised to take within weeks. The retail tranche was 43.6x oversubscribed, while the institutional book was covered 11.2x. A stabilization fund worth EGP 1.18 bn will maintain a buy order at the EGP 24.50 offer price for the first 30 days of trading.

Now what? The parent plans to inject roughly half that sum into its Egyptian arm through a closed capital increase at the offer price. “We’ve got EGP 4 bn going into Egypt to strengthen the balance sheet and promote growth,” Nakhla told us. “We’re bullish on the card and the investments,” he added.

IN CONTEXT- The debut came two sessions after the benchmark EGX30 slid 2.6% to its lowest close since 1 July, with international investors the sole net sellers, as parliament weighed authorizing the armed forces to support Saudi Arabia against intensifying Houthi attacks. The index clawed back just 0.4% on Monday.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’s a crisp fall day in Cairo tomorrow, with highs reaching a cloudy 28°C before dropping to an overnight low of 19°C, according to our favorite weather app.

MAKING HEADLINES ABROAD-

Still getting plenty of ink on today’s global news fronts is the unrest in France, which has since spread into neighboring European countries. French authorities have imposed partial overnight curfews in Paris and several other cities after the government acknowledged that police had “lost control” in some areas. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called for targeted measures to restore public order, ruling out blanket curfews across entire cities. Read more: CNN, Reuters, The Guardian, and Associated Press.

OVER IN CANADA- Early results from Alberta’s first-ever vote on separation show a decisive preference for staying in Canada, with roughly three-quarters of counted ballots opposing a move toward independence. The nonbinding referendum would only have paved the way for a future vote on leaving the country, rather than triggering separation directly. Read more: Reuters, The Guardian, Associated Press, BBC, and CNN.

ON THE TECH FRONT- The US has banned Chinese AI firm DeepSeek and technology built using its models from civilian government systems, citing security concerns without specifying the risks. The order, announced Monday but effective since late July, excludes agencies under the Defense Department and comes amid Washington’s broader scrutiny of Chinese AI developers. Read more: BBC, Associated Press, and CNBC.