Banque du Caire IPO pushed back to year-end

Good afternoon, ladies and gents, and welcome to a fresh new — and this time around, full — workweek. To ease you into the week, we’ve got a light issue for you to breeze through. Today, we’re taking a look at a New Cairo-born Japanese concept that went against the grain, watch an alternate history drama that had us hooked from the get-go, list the pre-World Cup friendlies we’re watching tonight, and more.

But first, the news…

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

📍 The Banque du Caire IPO has been pushed back toward year-end instead of late June, Hashem El Sayed, head of the cabinet’s State-Owned Enterprises Unit, tells EnterpriseAM. This comes after the investment banks managing the offering requested a postponement of investor roadshows to September and October. El Sayed attributed the delay to lower volume and trading activity — particularly regarding Gulf-based offers — on the stock market during the summer months.

Where things stand: EFG Hermes and CI Capital are set to manage the bank’s offering as part of the government privatization program, El Sayed said, noting that while the fair value of the share price has been approved, the exact size of the offering remains to be finalized and could range between 30-40% of the company’s shares. El Sayed also confirmed that international and institutional offers to participate in the IPO process continue to come in.

^^ We’ll have more on this story in tomorrow’s edition of EnterpriseAM.

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Coming straight to your inbox — Wednesday, June 10.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

🌐 It’s a relatively quiet afternoon on the news front, with no single story dominating the front pages. The US-Iran ceasefire faced yet another disruption over the weekend following escalations between US and Iranian forces in the region. Late Friday, US forces intercepted four Iranian one-way attack drones heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, before later targeting Iranian coastal surveillance radars. On Saturday, Iran retaliated by launching seven ballistic missiles toward military infrastructure in Kuwait and Bahrain, with six intercepted, according to US Central Command. Tensions extended into Sunday morning, with the US reporting that its forces shot down two Iranian drones headed toward the strait.

^^Read more on: Reuters, CNN, BBC, and Associated Press

MEANWHILE- Russia, the EU, and Washington watch with bated breath as Armenians head to the polls in a parliamentary vote that could accelerate the country's geopolitical pivot toward Europe, marking a further step away from its long-standing alliance with Russia and potentially reshaping its foreign policy direction for years to come.

The stakes are high for the South Caucasus nation, which has faced mounting economic pressure from Moscow as incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan campaigns for re-election on a platform centered on deeper integration with Europe. In the run-up to the vote, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that closer ties with the EU could carry a steep economic price.

^^Read more on: BBC, The Guardian, and Associated Press

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

• Thndr is repositioning from a stock-trading app to an integrated wealth management platform, layering digital gold, fractional real estate, no-commission investment funds, AI-powered planning tools, and a redesigned app onto its existing trading infrastructure;
• Egypt’s energy sector is moving across the Mediterranean and beyond, pushing technical agreements for the pipeline transporting Cypriot gas to our LNG hubs, accelerating offshore exploration at home, and exporting drilling expertise to Turkey;
• EFG Corp-Solutions closed a EGP 5.1 bn corporate bond issuance — the largest transaction of its kind in Egypt’s debt capital market history. The issuance beats the company’s own record of EGP 2.65 bn last year.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Keep a bottle of ice-cold water — and your AC remote — handy, because Cairo is in for a particularly warm day. Temperatures are set to peak at 36°C, with a low of 24°C. Up north will be cooler, with a high of 29°C and a low of 21°C, according to our favorite weather app.