Demystifying what’s going on with Orange Egypt’s EGX listing: To the confusion of many in the market (ourselves among them, if we’re to be frank), there are two things happening at Orange Egypt. A statement to the EGX yesterday (pdf) clears things up. First, Orange is in the implementation phase of an EGP 15.4 bn rights issue at par, the subscription period for which will close on 28 January. The issue of the company raising its free float to a minimum of 5% — against a current float of about 1% — is entirely unrelated, the company said. On that separate front, Orange Egypt says it’s “examining all options and appropriate timings” to increase its free float to at least the minimum. Doing so, it says, is highly dependent on market conditions — and the appetite of potential investors. Orange Egypt could face mandatory delisting if it doesn’t meet the minimum float requirement. Any offering or mandatory delisting would see shares priced on the basis of a fair value study that the company expects would result in something “not be materially different” from the EGP 10.91 per share price posted on EGX screens on 20 December.

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