IPO WATCH- CI Capital has priced its initial public offering on the Egyptian Exchange at EGP 7.29-8.26 per share, according to a statement released yesterday (pdf). The transaction will see about 41.5% of the company (or 225,637,282 ordinary shares) offered for sale, with the shares split between institutional investors (90% of the offering) and retail investors (10% of the offering). The price range would give the firm a pre-offering valuation range of EGP 3-3.4 bn. Look for some of the proceeds from the transaction to be re-injected into the company as selling shareholders subscribe to a follow-on capital increase, according to the statement. “The breadth and depth of our diversified suite of financial solutions, our significant scale and market leading positions and our solid financial performance allow us to be optimistic and ambitious about our future,” CI Capital Co-CEO Hazem Badran said. The transaction is still pending regulatory approval from the Financial Regulatory Authority.

CI Capital reported net profits of EGP 251 mn in FY2017 on revenues of EGP 1.85 bn.

Transaction timeline: The announcement of the final price will take place following the book building process on 19 April, while the retail offering will run from 17-24 April. Trading in CI Capital’s shares on the EGX is expected to “begin on or around 30 April.”

Advisors: Jefferies International Limited and CI Capital Investment Banking are acting as joint global coordinators and bookrunners on the IPO. Norton Rose Fulbright was tapped as international counsel to the issuer, while White & Case is the underwriters’ counsel. Matouk Bassiouny will serve as local counsel; Pharos Securities Brokerage and HC Brokerage are acting as placements agents.

IPO WATCH- Enppi, the state-owned EPC contractor serving the oil and gas industry, saw revenues grow 72% y-o-y in FY2017 to EGP 8.6 bn, the Oil Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The announcement comes as the company is likely to be among the first two companies to list this year as part of the state IPO program.

The roadshow for Egypt’s upcoming eurobond issuance continues today with meetings in Frankfurt, Munich, and Milan, according to an emailed statement. Meetings for the debt sale kicked-off yesterday in London and will wrap-up on Friday in Paris. The government has hired BNP Paribas, Banca IMI, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank to act as joint bookrunners for the EUR 1-1.5 bn issuance that is reportedly set to take place in three-weeks’ time on the Luxembourg stock exchange, and should offer maturities of eight and/or 12 years. Sources had said last week that officials would make a final decision on whether to take the offering north of EUR 2 bn based on feedback from investor meetings. Zaki Hashem & Partners and Linklater are legal advisors to the investment banks, while Al Tamimi & Co. and Dechert were chosen as legal advisors to the government for the transaction, which will be Egypt’s first-ever EUR-denominated bond sale. The government concluded a USD 4 bn eurobond sale in February.

LEGISLATION WATCH- The executive regulations of the Universal Healthcare Act will make clear how private-sector insurance players will fit into the new healthcare system, including prices and coverage rates, Vice Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said, according to Al Mal. Under the law, private-sector insurers will be able to provide coverage through the new healthcare system and share those costs with the government at rates and prices set by the Social Healthcare Insurance Authority — one of the three regulators mandated by the law. Maait said the prices will be close to the average prices in the market. His statement came during meetings held this week with private insurers to discuss their role in the new system. Some, including Egypt Life Takaful Company (GIG) and Libano Suisse, have complained that it wasn’t clear how the private sector fit into the new system.

The executive regulations will be ready in two months, Maait revealed, according to the newspaper. Last we heard, the regs had been drafted and are with the Council of State (Maglis El Dawla) for review.

LEGISLATION WATCH- The State Council (Maglis El Dawla) has completed its review of proposed amendments to the Customs Act and shipped it back to the Ismail Cabinet on Monday, according to judiciary sources. The draft law, which had received the Ismail Cabinet’s sign off in February, is expected to slash custom duties on capital goods to 2% from a current 5% and expand temporary exemptions for production inputs and packaging equipment. The law also includes provisions that aim to curb illegal trade activities and evasions of custom tariffs. The law is one of several which the Council had reviewed. Cabinet will now have to review the bill and pass it on to the House of Representatives for committee-level debate.

Egypt will hold its first local and municipal elections in 10 years in 1H2019, House of Representatives spokesperson Salah Hassaballah told reporters on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The polls will be held “after the local administrative draft law is passed by parliament” during the current legislative period, he added. Municipal elections were last held in 2008. Government-appointed officials have been running local affairs since a court dissolved municipal councils in 2011. The House of Representatives will vote on the Local Administration Act, which establishes elected local councils, before the summer recess, House Speaker Ali Abdel Aal said in January.

Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia kick off GERD talks in Khartoum: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty, and General Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel arrived in Khartoum yesterday to begin tripartite talks with Sudan and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to the Foreign Ministry. Negotiations on the dam had reached a gridlock last year, but the three countries agreed in January to continue looking for a solution.

There are mixed expectations on how the talks will play out. Diplomatic sources speaking to Al Shorouk believe the negotiations will ultimately go in Egypt’s favor, as the three countries will focus on coming to an agreement over the results of the environmental impact studies — which concluded the dam would negatively impact Egypt’s Nile water supply. According to the Declaration of Principles signed in 2015, the three countries must reach consensus over the studies before Ethiopia can fill up the dam’s reservoirs.

Nonetheless, Egypt will likely be forced to make compromises in the negotiations, according to the Harvard Political Review. “Egypt should fund the construction of transmission lines, while Ethiopia reduces the rate at which the dam fills.” The report suggests that this would go a long way to resolving one of the pressing issues with the construction of the dam, that is synchronizing the operation of Aswan High Dam with that of GERD so as to not cause as much harm to Egypt. The report does not see a conflict between the countries as likely.

Saudi Arabia has decided to lift a blanket ban on imports of Egyptian peppers and strawberries, the kingdom’s Environment, Water, and Agriculture Ministry announced yesterday, the Saudi Press Agency reports. The ban was put into effect nine months ago, after Saudi authority said shipments of both products contained unsafe levels of residual pesticides. “The lifting of the ban came after the ministry has been reassured of the commitment of Egyptian agricultural exporters to import regulations and restrictions imposed in the Kingdom on the said fruits and vegetables,” the ministry said. The move to end the ban — which comes one day after the Saudi Food and Drug Authority lifted a separate ban on Egyptian guava imports — follows “a number of meetings and negotiations held between an Egyptian delegation and the Saudi health officials,” Egypt’s Agriculture Ministry said in a statement carried by Reuters. Egypt has been working to impose tighter regulations and quality control measures on its exports, particularly those to the GCC.

Kuwait just made remittances more expensive: The Kuwaiti parliament’s financial and economic affairs committee has approved a bill imposing fees on expats’ outgoing remittances,MP Salah Korshed said in a statement carried by the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). Two-thirds of MPs voted in favor of the bill. Expats will be taxed 1% for salaries of USD 300, 2% for USD 333-666, 3% for USD 1,000-1,663, and 5% for USD 1,667-5,548, once the bill comes into effect, according to KUNA. Remittances, the second major contributor to Egypt’s narrowing account deficit, rose to USD 13.1 bn in 1H2017-18.

CORRECTION- We had picked up a story from Al Shoroukon Monday, naming CIB as part of a banking consortium providing a EGP 1.5 bn syndicated loan. We have been since informed that CIB is not involved in the transaction. The story has been corrected on our website.

** SMART PEOPLE WANTED. We’re hiring at both Enterprise and at our parent company, Inktank. We’re looking for critical thinkers who have outstanding English-language writing skills. Don’t apply if you are not (at an absolute minimum) unafraid of numbers. Among the many posts we have open right now:

Senior investor relations advisors at Inktank, who will advise and personally create products for public and pre-IPO companies in Egypt and the GCC, ranging from board reports to earnings releases, strategy documents and disclosure programs. Background in investment banking, journalism or a law a significant plus, as is the ability to read (but not necessarily write) Arabic.

We’re also in the market for IR analysts and associates, senior developers, and art directors.

Enterprise is looking for editors to help launch new products. You have at least five years of experience in journalism and a minimum of two of those should have been spent in an editor’s slot. Strong knowledge of Egypt and / or the GCC, a demonstrated interest in business / finance and a desire to both lead a team and personally create product are musts. Video, audio or investigative journalism experience big pluses.

Enterprise is also looking for a seasoned reporter to join our team and lead the creation of unique editorial work of interest to our readers. You’re motivated, have a demonstrated interest in business and finance, a way with people and outstanding editorial judgment. You’ll be expected to pitch stories and take assignments, develop leads into full-blown stories, and should be fluently bilingual. Audio and video skills are a plus.

What’s Inktank? We are the leading investor relations and financial communications firm in Africa and the Middle East. Our 30-plus person team of former investment bankers, commercial bankers, journalists, lawyers, developers and designers serve publicly traded and pre-IPO clients on the Egyptian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, among other markets. We provide strategic counsel on investor and communications strategies to CEOs and c-suite officers, help CIOs and investor relations professionals make their business cases, ensure management gets its message across to both boards of directors and shareholders, and raise both corporate and executive visibility in local and global markets.

What’s Enterprise? Our team of professionals has written more than 10 mn words of analysis on Egypt since we first start publishing in September 2014, covering our nation’s financial, economic and business news. Before 6:30am CLT every weekday, key decision makers including senior government officials, investment and commercial bankers, c-suite executives, business owners, fund managers and the teams they lead trust us for actionable business intelligence about the community in which they work. Our goal is simple: In a world awash in ambiguity, we deliver insight into trend lines, not headlines, providing facts and context about their industries, their country and the global context in which they operate.

WANT TO APPLY? Send a cover letter in the body of your email and attach a recent CV and any other material you want share. Drop your email to jobs@inktankcommunications.com — we promise you that a real, live human being checks that account at least once a day.