GE lands USD 575 mn contract to supply Egypt with 100 locomotives: General Electric signed a USD 575 mn agreement with the Egyptian Railway Authority on Saturday that will see it deliver 100 locomotives to the country, according to a cabinet statement. The locomotives are part of a plan to have “25 mn tonnes of goods transported via railway by 2022,” Reuters reports, citing remarks by Transport Minister Hisham Arafat. The first batch of 25 locomotives will arrive in 2018, Arafat said.

The agreement will be financed with the help of Canadian export-credit agency Export Development Canada, according to Bloomberg and also covers upgrades to 81 old GE locomotives and 15 years of maintenance services for both new and old fleets, providing everything from tech support to spare parts.

The agreement is “evidence that Egypt is open for business,” GE Vice-Chairman John Rice told Bloomberg in a phone interview from Cairo. GE is looking to invest further in Egypt, especially as reforms improve the country’s business climate, Rice told Prime Minister Sherif Ismail during a Saturday meeting.

Abraaj exits Careem, places stake with Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding: The Abraaj Group announced that it successfully sold its stake in ridesharing app Careem to Kingdom Holding Company. Kingdom Holding Company, which is chaired by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said in a statement it had purchased a 7% stake worth USD 62 mn. Abraaj says it “closely partnered with Careem and its management team through a critical phase of the Company’s growth. The Group helped drive and increase corporate client outreach through its strong regional networks, accelerated strategic hiring, and supported the Company with expansion into new markets.”

The transaction came as Careem raised USD 150 mn, Reuters reports, noting, “The latest fundraising … increases investment in the company to USD 500 mn from USD 350 mn last December when it was valued at USD 1 bn.”

Germany’s Daimler invested in the funding round, CNN reports. Daimler had entered into a partnership with Uber to operate self-driving cars earlier this year. The report describes Daimler’s investment in Careem as a “blow” to Uber as it tries “to hedge its bets in the ride hailing market” and notes it is not alone in doing so as Prince Alwaleed already owns 5% in Uber competitor Lyft. “Our investment in Careem is a continuation of our strategy to invest in new technologies as we have done with our investments in Twitter, JD.com and Lyft,” said Kingdom Holding CEO Talal Al Maiman.

M&A WATCH- The bidding war for National Company for Maize Products (NCMP) looks to intensify this week amid expectations of a mandatory tender offer by EK Holding subsidiary International Financial Investments Company (IFIC) for the maker of sweeteners and food additives. The company is expected to hold a meeting to discuss the MTO this week ahead of presenting the official offer to the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority for approval, sources tell Al Borsa. This follows a meeting between both companies last week to discuss a fair value report on NCMP. This would follow competing MTOs presented by Cairo Three A Group and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)’s Swiss unit for a 42.96% stake in the company. The three are also facing off against Al Mona Misr (a local affiliate of global commodities giant Louis Dreyfus; Al Mona says it is not acting on Dreyfus’ behalf). Pharos Holding is sell-side advisor to Misr Capital Investment for the transaction, while Al Tamimi & Co. is legal advisor. EFG Hermes is advising ADM, CI Capital is advising Cairo Three A, and Al Mona is being advised by Pioneers.

M&A WATCH- Beltone Financial has landed a mandate as sell-side advisor for a retail company with operations in three Asian countries, Sobhy El Sehrawy, the firm’s deputy head of investment banking, told Al Borsa. El Sehrawy did not name the company but says the transaction is Beltone’s first beyond Egypt’s borders. He expects the transaction on the company, valued at USD 300 mn, should close within the next two to three months.

IPO WATCH- Zaki Hashem & Partners will be legal advisor to BPE Partners on the private equity outfit’s planned IPO this year, with Sigma Capital managing the issuance, Al Mal reports. BPE Partners Chief Investment Officer Abdel-Monem Omran said earlier this month the company is looking at September or October to list on the EGX.

IPO WATCH- NI Capital expects Enppi will list on the EGX before the end of 2017, Reuters reports. It expects to raise between USD 100-150 mn from the offering. NI Capital, the government’s investment bank and coordinator of the program to offer via IPO stakes in select state-owned companies, says it “will also offer shares in companies from the petroleum, services, chemicals, shipping, maritime and real estate sectors.”

MOVES- Algebra Ventures announced thatKarim Hussein has joined it as a partner. Hussein was previously senior VP of products and engineering at WebMD, founder of DKimia, and has also made a number of angel investments in Egypt and the US, including Shezlong, Simplex CNC Solutions, Integreight and Eonite Perception. Algebra Ventures is now led by partners Karim Hussein, Tarek Asaad, and Ziad Mokhtar, with Khaled Ismail as a senior strategic advisor to the fund. The fund, which recently concluded a USD 1.5 mn investment in Elmenus.com, “is backed by large institutional investors: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund (EAEF), Cisco and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).”

Egypt’s GDP grew by 4.2% y-o-y in the first three quarters of FY2016-17, Planning Minister Hala El Said said, according to Reuters. El Said said the growth was led by “several industries, including communication, tourism and manufacturing,” which saw year-on-year growth of 10.7%, 80%, and 7.9%, respectively, according to Al Mal. The ministry sees the economy growing at a 4% clip in the fiscal year ending 30 June.

Food exports up 7% in 4M2017: Speaking of growth, Food Export Council head Hani Berzi noted Egypt’s food exports advanced 7% year-on-year in the first four months of the year, generating total receipts of about USD 929 mn, Al Mal reports.

Look for additional spending on bread subsidies in the 2017-18 state budget as the Supply Ministry and Federation of Chambers of Commerce both lobby the Finance Ministry for more generous earmarks for the subsidy, Al Mal reports. Spending on bread subsidies is presently set to ring in at EGP 37.1 bn in the next budget (up from EGP 23 bn in 2016-17), and could rise by as much as EGP 11 bn if the Federation gets its way.

Saudi Arabia issued on Thursday a temporarily ban on imports of Egyptian strawberries over concerns of high levels of pesticides, El Watan reports. The ban, effective from 11 July, follows an inspection of a strawberry shipment from April. The Saudi ban prompted Egypt’s Agriculture Export Council to ratify yesterday new rules on pesticides it wants members to implement during the upcoming growing season, Al Borsa reports. Strawberry and pepper imports will both be under the microscope, council head Abdel Hamid El Demerdash said. The Agriculture Ministry had previously moved to impose stricter regulations on exports to the GCC after several countries banned Egyptian produce due to high pesticide levels. Saudi Arabia banned Egyptian peppers in December, prompting the UAE and Kuwait to follow suit.

The Ismail government signed off on minor amendments to the Consumer Protection Act during its weekly meeting on Thursday, according to a statement. It appears the government is approving amendments to the act piecemeal, after having signed off on other revisions earlier this month. Certain amendments, including provisions that would allow the government to set price controls as part of a bid to curb inflation, have stirred tension in the business community. Planning Minister Hala El Said also presented her ministry’s report on the country’s main economic indicators in 3Q2016/17. Key decisions taken during the meeting include:

• Approving a EUR 100 mn loan from the French Development Agency (AFD) for the EUR 360 mn Alexandria tram project;
• Signing off on a USD 85 mn funding agreement with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development for a 50 MW solar power plant project in Kom Ombo;
• Approving amendments to a draft bill on regulating river traffic and commercial transport on the Nile that will see a single agency replace all existing agencies within two years of the law’s issuance. The ministers had previously signed off on the draft bill earlier this month;
• Signing off on unspecified decisions taken by the Ministerial Committee on Investment Disputes;
• Approving amendments to the fishing and aquatic life law to impose a prison sentence of three to seven years and fines of EGP 1-10 mn for individuals who damage lake ecosystems.

Protesters gathered on Friday to demonstrate against parliament’s vote in favor ofhanding over Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia, leading to the closure of the Sadat metro station, according to Al Mal. Security forces arrested around 40 protesters in the Greater Cairo area, Al Shorouk reports. The Associated Press also took note of the protests over the islands transfer, which theNew York Times’ Declan Walsh says is “one of the most politically sensitive issues facing Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.” Following the protests, cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center published a copy of a 1990 presidential decree demarcating Egypt’s maritime borders with Saudi Arabia, in which the islands fall under the kingdom’s territory, Ahram Gate reports.

A Cairo Criminal sentenced 31 Islamists to death on Saturday for the 2015 assassination of Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat, the Associated Press reports. The court will issue the final verdict, which is subject to appeal, on 22 July. Reuters also has the story.

Six Egyptians are reportedly among the estimated 76 people missing in the fire that engulfed London’s Grenfell Tower last week, according to UK Metro News. Rania Ibrahim and her two children are believed to still be missing after being trapped in the 23rd floor. She had posted to Facebook Live her ordeal and police had instructed her to remain inside. Thirty people have been confirmed dead in the fire that launched a wave of protests and anger at Prime Minister Theresa May.

Other international stories breaking on a busy news weekend:

Biggest international story of relevance to Egypt: Israel, Greece and Cyprus have agreed to build the world’s longest undersea pipeline to link Israeli offshore gas fields to Europe, Bloomberg reports. The business information service notes that the expense of the pipeline and current low energy prices “may require additional gas findings offshore Israel to make it commercially viable.” While the potential pipeline is years and bns of USD away, Israel already has a link to Europe through Egypt in the form of the Arish-Ashkelon pipeline, but it’s effectively blocked by a USD 1.76 bn international arbitration award won by Israel Electric against Egyptian state petroleum companies EGPC and EGAS and pipeline operator EMG. Israeli offshore giants Noble Energy (headquartered in the US) and Delek Group are looking to export gas to both Jordan and Egypt.

Biggest international story based on sheer “fun” factor: Amazon is making a bid for Whole Foods — the high-end food market dubbed “Whole Paycheck” by fans and detractors alike — in a USD 13.7 bn transaction that the Wall Street Journal says is in part a play on the idea that “many shoppers still want to buy groceries at physical stores.” The move is also being positioned as the next phase of Amazon’s war on retailer Walmart.

The WSJ’s coverage of the original transaction is great, but the piece you need to read to put it in context is by Christopher Mims, who writes for the newspaper: “Why does a phone maker get into banking transactions? Why does a social network build a virtual-reality headset? Why does an online retailer buy a grocery chain? Amazon’s bid to acquire Whole Foods is just the most extreme example of a larger, more consequential phenomenon: America’s biggest tech companies are spreading their tentacles, pushing into complementary businesses in a play to sustain growth as they saturate the market for their existing goods.” It’s also one heck of a logistics play. If you’re browsing from your iPad or at your desk, hit the rail running down the left-hand side for more than a dozen additional WSJ stories on the merger — the paper has owned coverage of this one.

Not a Journal subscriber? Check out coverage in the Financial Times (paywall). The NYT’s Farhad Manjoo has an interesting viewpoint, and both Bloomberg and Reuters have the story, with the former noting that grocery stocks in the US and Canada tanked on the announcement of Amazon’s foray — and that Amazon could push Whole Foods to cut prices to help it shed its “Whole Paycheck” image.

The specter of a tech giant buying into bricks and mortar has us dusting off our copy of David Sax’s very good The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter.

Tunisia is under pressure to fix its FX problem, but it’s not likely to follow Egypt’s example and fully float the dinar. That’s the take-home from a Bloomberg piece on currency liberalization measures contained in a draft bill now before the Tunisian cabinet.

Other headlines with a skim this morning if you have a few minutes:

Greece has been saved from default this summer after Eurozone ministers and the IMF announced on Thursday night an agreement that will allow Greece to make good on some USD 7 bn in debt repayments it owes in July. That said, they’ve essentially just kicked the ball down the road. The Financial Times explains why.

Investors are starting to freak about corporate bonds in the US and Europe. Quoth the FT: “The number of investors who think corporate bonds are overvalued has hit a new record high as the industry frets over the prospect of central bankers raising interest rates, as well as political uncertainty in the US and Europe.”

How bad is the quality of Uber coverage this morning? Lousy enough that either AriannaHuffington or three of millennials you’ve never heard of are going to save the ride-sharing app from the meltdown of Travis Kalanick and the company’s senior management. The New York Times serves up the Arianna angle, while Bloomberg looks at the three people who together account for almost all of the company’s revenues.