Taqa Arabia acquires 10% of 172 Wataneya stations

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Gov’t fast-tracks corporate formation with temporary tax cards

Good morning, friends. We start the week with a news well packed with M&As and privatization. Our biggest story of the day is the National Service Projects Organization’s (NSPO) handing a 10% stake in 172 Wataneya gas stations to Taqa Arabia. The deal parks the stations in an IPO-bound vehicle, but NSPO still retains a 20% cross-holding in Taqa.

Also in today’s issue: Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports is bumping up its mandatory tender offer for Alex Containers to EGP 27.47 per share.

Meanwhile, the education sector is seeing a flurry of activity, with the Egypt Education Platform readying a 25% float on the EGX and the National Bank of Egypt picking up a 20% stake in the Egyptian Alliance for Education.

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Lowering the hurdle

The government is fast-tracking corporate formation by introducing a temporary eight-month tax card, according to a draft law seen by EnterpriseAM. The draft legislation — which implements World Bank recommendations — allows new companies to speed up their establishment and licensing procedures. The bill sets a legal deadline for settling any tax liabilities accrued during this eight-month window.

Why it matters: Easing entry barriers is a critical benchmark for the country’s ongoing IMF reviews and a condition for the USD 1 bn in concessional financing unlocked by the World Bank in May. By decreasing the hurdles to formalizing, the government is trying to coax the informal economy into the light to hit its target of increasing annual tax revenues by 1-2% of GDP.

The catch: The draft law prohibits companies from using the card to conduct actual commercial operations or taxable transactions until their permanent licenses and final tax cards are secured. The bill also kills the bookkeeping exemption for businesses under EGP 500k in turnover, forcing micro-businesses directly onto state e-invoicing platforms. Additionally, the relaxed 12-month grace period GAFI previously promised new businesses has been slashed to eight months.

Zafarana allocation to join sukuk program

A new Zafarana land allocation is set to expand the Finance Ministry’s asset pool for its local sovereign sukuk program, a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM. The allocation follows the launch of the government’s EGP 200 bn local sukuk program last year, which was backed by land in the Red Sea’s Ras Shukeir area.

Why it matters: Sukuk are becoming a more permanent part of the government’s funding toolkit. These instruments help the FinMin widen the investor base for public debt — particularly among Islamic banks and shariah-complaint investors — while pricing below conventional debt, the official tells us. New sukuk backed by the Zafarana plot could carry yields around 3-4 percentage points below traditional debt instruments. Early local sukuk issuances from November 2025 have already drawn strong demand from banks and have given the ministry a funding route cheaper than some conventional instruments.

This is not a land sale — the state is keeping the deed. The structure grants investors usufruct rights to exploit the assets for the duration of the sukuk, but explicitly prohibits transferring or selling the land, the source said. The Finance Ministry retains absolute ownership of the underlying assets, using them strictly as a guarantee.

What’s next: The Finance Ministry is expected to set a new timetable for sukuk issuances in FY 2026/27, with plans to diversify maturities beyond the three-year structure that has dominated the program so far. Five-year sukuk and other tenors are expected to be added as part of the Finance Ministry’s broader structural overhaul to lengthen the average maturity of public debt to 4.5-5 years and break the cycle of short-term refinancing, the official adds.

Smooth sailing

Indirect transit shipments are getting another six-month exemption from mandatory registration under the Advance Cargo Information (ACI) system, the Customs Authority said in a statement. The ACI exemption was initially launched in March as a structural bypass for Gulf transshipments caught in the Hormuz supply chain squeeze.

Why it matters: The latest extension widens the facility to include six East African nations — Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Djibouti, and Ethiopia — key states for Egypt’s maritime and port infrastructure. Egypt recently signed agreements to develop a regional logistics center in Djibouti’s Khor Ambado Freezone and has planned a logistics corridor connecting Tanzania and Rwanda.

PSA-

Bankers are getting a long weekend too: The Central Bank of Egypt announced that local banks will join the rest of the country in taking Thursday off for the Islamic New Year. Normal banking hours resume Sunday, 21 June.

WEATHER- The weather is a bit cooler in Cairo today, with a high of 34°C and a low of 23°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s several degrees cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 28°C and a low of 20°C.

You can survive a bad investment, but you cannot undo a severance package you never negotiated.

You're at the stage where the questions have shifted: who gets what, whether your estate survives you intact or gets tied up in courts, whether you exit on your terms or let timing decide for you.

Retirement isn't a finish line but a structure problem, and most people get it wrong. It's not because they ran out of money but because they never asked the right questions at the right time.

In the final issue of EnterpriseAM Money Matters, we cover the decisions that define how you exit: estate planning under Egyptian law, what to actually ask your lawyer before you step back, how to read a severance package, when phased retirement makes financial sense — and when cashing out your options is the smartest move you'll make this decade.

Coming straight to your inbox — Wednesday, June 17.

The big story abroad

Next stop: Mars. SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO and CEO Elon Musk’s new status as the world’s first tn’aire dominated the front pages over the weekend and continue to do so this morning.

Here’s how day 1 of trading went: SpaceX made its debut on the Nasdaq on Friday after raising USD 75 bn in its IPO, overtaking Saudi Aramco for the title of the largest IPO in history. Shares ended the day up 19% at USD 160.95 apiece, pushing the company’s valuation to over USD 2 tn.

Meet the richest man alive: The company’s public debut pushed Musk’s net worth to USD 1.1 tn, making him over three times richer than second in line Google co-founder Larry Page. A USD 1.1 tn fortune once seemed unimaginable within our lifetime, with the first fortune exceeding USD 100 bn registered less than a decade ago.

Several outlets are out with interesting pieces worth reading on the matter, including the Financial Times’ AI is Revolutionising the Stock Market and Bloomberg’s Why Musk Raced to Take SpaceX Public in the World’s Biggest IPO, which puts the timing of the move into perspective — before the US midterm elections and dominating the scene before OpenAI and Anthropic move forward with their planned listings.

And speaking of Anthropic: The company behind Claude suspended all access to two of its AI models — Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — in response to a directive from the US government, which ordered the startup to block the models from any foreign nationals. The company said the government believes there is a “jailbreak” that can bypass Fable 5’s safeguards, potentially allowing the model to be used for identifying software vulnerabilities.

The latest war update: US President Donald Trump last night said that a US-Iran agreement to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz will “get signed tomorrow.” According to him, the waterway will be “open to all” immediately after the agreement is signed.

Snapping up fuel

The military’s National Service Projects Organization (NSPO) is handing Taqa Arabia a 10% stake in 172 stations from Wataneya’s fuel network, according to a Cabinet statement. The transaction parks the assets inside a new IPO-bound vehicle called Quick Fuel for Petroleum Products Trading and Distribution, which Taqa will now manage and operate.

Wataneya operates294 stationsnationwide (estimated to represent around 7% of the country’s fuel retail market) and the deal will cover only 172 of them. The reduction of the military’s economic footprint is part of the International Monetary Fund’s USD 8 bn loan program. NSPO retains a 20% cross-holding in Taqa Arabia, which it acquired in July 2023 from Taqa’s parent, Qalaa Holdings, at a significant 46% discount to market value.

The ghosts of bidders past: Wataneya has been stuck in the government’s privatization pipeline since at least 2020. The government spent years trying to secure a strategic foreign buyer, with Adnoc, Shell, and Vivo Energy all circling the asset before ultimately walking away from direct buyouts. Settling for a 10% transfer to a local player and kicking the can down the road via a future EGX listing is a significant change in strategy. To sweeten the pot, Taqa gets the option to acquire an additional 15% stake once Quick Fuel actually hits the trading floor.

What we don’t know: The pricing and exact listing timelines remain unknown. The Sovereign Fund of Egypt began restructuring Wataneya back in April 2025 — along with Safi, Silo Foods, Chill Out, and National Roads Company — for an EGX debut between 2025 and 2026, but the schedule was repeatedly derailed by regional market jitters.

ADVISORS- SFE is advising on the transaction. CI Capital is serving as exclusive financial advisor to NSPO, alongside legal counsel Adsero and accounting and tax advisor Grant Thornton — Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz. Taqa Arabia’s legal advisor is Zulficar & Partners.

In other privatization news

Another petroleum company joins the privatization show: Petroleum Marine Services (PMS) has applied to list its shares on the EGX main market, according to a statement from the bourse. The company is looking to list USD 120 mn in issued capital, split across 12 mn shares with a nominal value of USD 10 per share. The bourse is currently reviewing the paperwork before referring the file to the listing committee.

PMS joins an increasingly active oil-asset listing pipeline. The government will temporarily list 20 public sector companies on the EGX by the end of June, clearing the runway to list petroleum heavyweights Enppi, Petrojet, and Midor in July, the Arabic press reports, citing State-Owned Companies Unit CEO Hashem El Sayed.

The government expects to finalize the fair-value study for Misr Life Ins. within two weeks and will reveal the roster of interested investors in the first half of July, El Sayed said. The state is looking to float a 20% stake in the state-owned insurer on the EGX in a transaction quarterbacked by EFG Hermes.

On the Banque du Caire IPO front, El Sayed said that a 30% stake sale could easily be covered “within a week” despite previous delays. The transaction — guided by EFG Hermes and CI Capital — is now officially expected to wrap in November — a month later than the September-October window El Sayed told us about last week.

ALSO- El Sayed unveiled that the third iteration of the State Ownership Policy document will be issued within two weeks, backed by a broader mandate to restructure all state-owned companies by 4Q 2026. The government is also studying whether to list the New Administrative Capital company, and could announce its position by year-end, he adds.

Changing pockets

The Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ-owned AD Ports Group is finalizing its consolidation of Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling Company (ALCN), according to a statement (pdf) from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). Black Caspian Logistics — a subsidiary of the Emirati company — submitted a draft mandatory tender offer (MTO) to the FRA to acquire up to 90% of the EGX-listed port operator, valuing the shares at EGP 27.47 per piece.

The mechanics: The transaction will see Black Caspian acquire sister company Alpha Oryx’s 32% stake in ALCN, AD Ports said in a statement (pdf). To satisfy the FRA’s mandatory-offer framework, the agreement includes a tender offer to acquire up to 127.5 mn shares — or 4.3% — from freefloat shareholders. Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

REMEMBER- AD Ports Group secured a stake in ALCN in November when it acquired the PIF-owned Saudi Egyptian Investment Company’s 19.3% stake for EGP 13.24 bn. This gave ADQ a combined 51.33% majority stake in ALCN, following its acquisition of a 32% indirect ownership through Alpha Oryx in 2022.

Same file, higher price: This is the same MTO file we saw late last year. The FRA granted Black Caspian a 60-day extension in March to finalize its bid. The new EGP 27.47 per share price represents a 19.5% premium over AD Ports’ initial EGP 22.99 offer, but comes about 3.1% below the share’s closing price of EGP 28.36 on Thursday.

Why it matters: ALCN operates the Alexandria and El Dekheila terminals, managing a combined annual capacity of 1.5 mn TEUs and handling around 60% of Alexandria’s container capacity. That makes it one of Egypt’s most important Mediterranean gateway assets — and a core piece of AD Ports’ wider Egypt buildout across ports, shipping, maritime services, and logistics.

The state isn’t selling: The 90% figure is the regulatory ceiling, not the practical base case under the transaction. ALCN’s updated ownership structure as of April shows state-linked holders still owning 42.9% — split between the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport at 35.3% and the Alexandria Port Authority at 7.6% — according to an EGX disclosure (pdf). The Madbouly government is sitting tight on its 40% stake, opting to wait for the Mediterranean gateway asset to appreciate further rather than divest at current valuations.

Buying into the classroom

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) acquired a 20% stake in the Egyptian Alliance for Education, injecting EGP 250 mn that has raised the platform’s issued capital to EGP 1.25 bn, according to a statement.

Grassroots education: Founded by CIRA Chairman Hassan El Kalla, the alliance seeks to establish more than 100 new schools across the country’s governorates, “bringing quality education at a grassroots level with affordable fees,” CIRA CEO Mohamed El Kalla tells EnterpriseAM, which balances “outreach, development targets, and return on investment.” The first four schools are slated to open this year in Qena, Kafr El Zayyat, and Alexandria, he adds.

Why it matters: The investment is the latest in a string of moves that saw the state-owned commercial bank deploy capital to secure direct equity stakes across non-banking sectors — spanning renewables, facility management, and fintech — while simultaneously lining up a regional expansion.

NBE has been busy

NBE has been stretching its reach across a number of sectors beyond education, from green energy to non-banking financial services (NBFS). To tap into the booming non-banking financial services sector, Al Ahly Capital Holding — the NBE’s investment arm with over USD 2.5 bn in assets under management — led a strategic investment round last week that raised the valuation of local fintech unicorn MNT-Halan to USD 1.4 bn.

The bank snapped up a 20% stake in Norwegian developer Scatec’s 1.1 GW Obelisk solar project in Nagaa Hammadi last month, becoming a co-owner of the USD 600 mn solar-plus-storage plant. The transaction brought Scatec’s economic interest down to 40%, with the remaining 40% distributed equally between two co-investors, French state-owned utility EDF and the Norwegian state investment fund Norfund.

Regional expansion: NBE opened its first Saudi branch in Riyadh last October to target corporate trade finance and is eyeing a new outpost in Iraq. Simultaneously, the bank is laying the groundwork for a tech-forward investment banking hub in Dubai, tapping former Onebank chief Sherif Elbehery to upgrade its DIFC license to a full Category 1 authorization.

Two acquisitions left? Al Ahly Capital, the investment arm of NBE, was reportedly planning on pulling off four acquisitions in FY 2025/26, with a focus across NBFS, private equity, and education, CEO Karim Saada said last year. The bank has new stakes in the Scatec project and in Egyptian Alliance for Education, which leaves two acquisitions.

Retail liquidity play

Egypt Education Platform (EEP) is engineering its capital structure before it floats up to 25% of its shares on the EGX, Al Mal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. The company’s extraordinary general assembly (pdf) greenlit a 10-for-1 stock split, slashing the nominal share value from EGP 10 to EGP 1. EEP is pairing the split with an EGP 611.9 mn capital hike funded entirely through retained earnings, taking issued capital to EGP 2.6 bn.

BUT- We are still awaiting clarity regarding valuation, exact timing, and whether the offering will be a primary capital raise to fund expansion or a secondary sell-down.

The EGX waiting room: The financial maneuvering comes just weeks after the education giant temporarily listed 199.4 mn shares on the EGX main market — the sixth company in the EGX’s education services sector. The capital increase leaves EFGEMS Education — EEP’s founding JV between EFG Hermes and GEMS Education — firmly in control, with its stake slipping only marginally to 98.4% from 99.99%. The move gives EEP a cleaner capital structure ahead of its float in the defensive, high-multiple education sector.

MEANWHILE- Beyond hunting for local retail liquidity on the EGX, the company is reportedly also working on a USD 100 mn+ Gulf-focused fundraising round.

A broader education empire: The EFG Hermes-backed vehicle, which counts the Sovereign Fund of Egypt among its anchor investors, has built a portfolio spanning K-12 schools and preschools, an education content platform called Selah El Telmeez, and other related services. EEP recently made its first push into higher education, signing an agreement with TMG earlier this year to build an EGP 8 bn private university in Noor City.

A growing textile hub

Canadian firm Avelon is setting up a USD 27 mn technical textiles manufacturing facility in the East Port Said Industrial Zone, according to an SCZone statement. The facility, spanning some 24.2k sqm, will produce specialized materials for waterproofing, building protection, soil reinforcement, and infrastructure, with 100% of its output earmarked for export to US and European markets.

Why it matters: The SCZone has been flooded with Chinese and Turkish firms focused on low-margin, ready-made garments, but Avelon breaks this mold by bringing a high-value, specialized industrial input to the table. The Canadian firm is leveraging the industrial zone’s direct integration with the port to slash supply chain costs and lock in a logistics advantage for its Western-bound exports.

Indian fabrics in Qantara West

The SCZone also inked a contract with Indian textile manufacturer Prestige Denim Mills to build a USD 20 mn fully integrated denim fabric facility on a 100k sqm plot in Qantara West, according to an SCZone statement. The plant will produce up to 20 mn meters of denim fabric annually, integrating weaving, dyeing, and finishing operations, with 70% of output earmarked for export.

LimeVest mulls Saudi factory

Homegrown healthcare investment firm LimeVest is looking to invest up to USD 70 mn to set up a pharma factory in Saudi Arabia, the Arabic press reported, citing founder and chairman Sharif El Akhdar. The move coincides with its subsidiary LVP Pharma upping its stake in EGX-listed Rameda to 31.5% following an EGP 847 mn share purchase last week.

Some hope for private credit?

Private credit is finally seeing some positive press for a change, with some outlets reporting signs of recovery as investors buy into high-yield bonds offered by business development companies (BDC).

BACKGROUND- It’s been a high-profile struggle for the private credit industry, with fears of a crisis brewing for some time now. The Financial Stability Board warned of risk mispricing and high default levels in the USD 2 tn sector last month, while 1Q saw wealthy investors pull more than USD 10 bn from funds, prompting managers to cap withdrawals. Software firms — a key target for private credit lenders — are also in the firing line from the AI boom.

However, bonds issued by BDCs have seen a wave of interest recently, with issuance hitting nearly USD 8.4 bn since the beginning of 2Q, after just USD 3 bn was issued in March, Bloomberg reports. ARCC’s USD 800 mn sale was 3x oversubscribed, and Blackstone’s flagship BDC’s USD 850 mn offering saw USD 4.3 bn in orders.

Behind the trend: Some are banking on BDCs’ commitment to repayment, with investors seeing the bonds as less risky than previously thought, according to the business news service. The risk premium on BDC bonds over US Treasuries has snapped back to levels last seen in February, with some analysts expecting spreads to tighten further.

Plus: Attractive yields could help give a boost to the sector. Man Group’s Chief Investment Officer Kevin Marchetti told CNBC that a spike in benchmark interest rates in the US on the back of an inflation uptick could lead to more attractive yields, especially for more disciplined lenders.

The bear case hasn't gone away, though. Underlying stressors remain — some BDCs face credit rating downgrades, and a possible mismatch between redemptions and fundraising looms. Heavyweights including Blackstone and Cliffwater are still capping withdrawals amid a wave of redemption requests.

EGX30	50,819	-0.9% (YTD: +21.5%)
USD (CBE)	Buy 51.92	Sell 52.06
USD (CIB)	Buy 51.90	Sell 52.00
Interest rates (CBE)	19.00% deposit	20.00% lending
Tadawul	11,042	+0.3% (YTD: +5.3%)
ADX	9,805	+2.7% (YTD: -1.9%)
DFM	5,954	+3.8% (YTD: -1.5%)
S&P 500	7,431	+0.5% (YTD: +8.6%)
FTSE 100	10,472	+1.6% (YTD: +5.4%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,188	+2.2% (YTD: +6.8%)
Brent crude	USD 87.33	-3.4%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 3.12	+1.1%
Gold	USD 4,239	+3.0%
BTC	USD 64,502	+1.6% (YTD: -26.4%)
S&P Egypt Sovereign Bond Index	1,059	+0.1% (YTD: +6.7%)
S&P MENA bond & sukuk	152.01	+0.3% (YTD: +0.1%)
VIX (Fear gauge)	17.68	-9.1% (YTD: +18.3%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.9% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 10.7 bn (26.9% above the 90-day average). International investors were the sole net buyers. The index is up 21.5% YTD.

In the green: Orascom Construction (+1.5%), GB Corp (+1.1%), and CIB (+0.5%).

In the red: Ibnsina Pharma (-4.0%), Misr Cement (-3.2%), and Abu Qir Fertilizers (-3.2%).

CALENDAR

JUNE

16-18 June (Tuesday-Thursday) AFA International Annual Fertilizer Conference & Exhibition, Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo.

23-25 June (Tuesday-Thursday): The Big 5 Construct Egypt, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

23-25 June (Tuesday-Thursday): Watrex Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

30 June (Tuesday): June 30 Revolution.

JULY

9 July (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s fourth meeting of 2026.

23 July (Thursday): Revolution Day (TBC).

AUGUST

19 August (Wednesday): Connected Banking Summit, Fairmont Nile City Hotel

20 August (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s fifth meeting of 2026.

26 August (Wednesday): Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

SEPTEMBER

8-10 September (Tuesday-Thursday) El Alamein International Airshow, El Alamein International Airport

10-12 September (Thursday-Saturday): Egyptian Entrepreneurship Sector Diagnostics Report Summit, El Gouna.

15 September (Tuesday): IMF to hold its eighth review of Egypt’s USD 8 bn EFF arrangement.

24 September (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s sixth meeting of 2026.

27-29 September (Sunday-Tuesday): Global Conference on Population, Health, and Human Development.

OCTOBER

6 October (Tuesday): Armed Forces Day.

10-11 October (Saturday-Sunday): Egypt Women's Health Summit (EWHS), Cairo Marriott Hotel

26-28 October (Monday-Wednesday): IEX Egypt, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

29 October (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s seventh meeting of 2026.

DECEMBER

7-10 December (Monday-Thursday): Food Africa, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

17 December (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s eighth meeting of 2026.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

1Q 2026: Trial operations for the Ain Sokhna-Sixth of October section of Egypt’s first high-speed rail line scheduled to begin.

May 2026: End of extension for developers on 15% interest rates for land installment payments.

July 2026: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer set to visit Egypt.

2H 2026: Operations at Deli Glass Co’s new USD 70 mn glassware factory kick off.

2026: The Egyptian-American Economic Forum.

4Q 2026: Banque du Caire IPO

2027

16-18 January (Saturday-Monday): Agri Expo, Cairo International Convention Center.

20 January-7 February: Egypt to host the African Games.

April 2027: Tenth of Ramadan dry port and logistics hub to begin operations.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2027: Egypt to host EBRD’s annual meetings.

2027: Egypt-EU Summit 2027.

End of 2027: Trial operations at the Dabaa nuclear power plant expected to take place.

September 2028: First unit of the Dabaa nuclear power plant begins operations.

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