{"id":547048,"date":"2022-06-07T03:58:43","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T03:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/06\/07\/finmin-sfe-get-the-ball-rolling-on-stake-sale-program-interest-from-saudis-pif-looks-serious\/"},"modified":"2022-06-07T03:58:43","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T03:58:43","slug":"finmin-sfe-get-the-ball-rolling-on-stake-sale-program-interest-from-saudis-pif-looks-serious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/06\/07\/finmin-sfe-get-the-ball-rolling-on-stake-sale-program-interest-from-saudis-pif-looks-serious\/","title":{"rendered":"FinMin, SFE get the ball rolling on stake sale program + interest from Saudi\u2019s PIF looks serious"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Madbouly calls on FinMin to get the ball rolling on state privatization program:<\/strong> Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly has directed the Finance Ministry to update its plan for the state privatization program. Madbouly\u2019s instructions came in a meeting on Sunday with members of his cabinet meant to move forward President Abdel Fattah El Sisi\u2019s new economic agenda<\/a>, according to a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On FinMin\u2019s to-do list: <\/strong>Madbouly asked the Finance Ministry to prepare a timeline for stake sales in state-owned firms, including how much of each company could be on offer. He also requested that companies owned by the military-affiliated National Service Products Organization (NSPO) be included on the list (most likely including bottled water brand Safi<\/a> and Wataniya Petroleum<\/a>, both of which have been in the pipeline for stake sales for some time.)<\/p>\n

Refresher:<\/strong> The Madbouly government has said that it wants to sell stakes in as many as 10 state-owned and two military-owned companies this year. It signaled that it is open to both stake sales and IPOs, depending on market conditions and individual investor interest. The new state-owned hotel company<\/a> and Egypt Aluminum<\/a> (EgyptAlum) have both been earmarked in recent weeks for sale to strategic investors.<\/p>\n

But right now, private > public:<\/strong> The government will likely look to line up strategic investors in private sales rather than turning to public offerings on the bourse, Ayman Soliman, head of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE), said<\/a> Sunday, citing the volatility that has roiled global capital markets this year. A combination of spiraling commodities prices and rising interest rates have resulted in Egyptian equities entering a correction this year, with the benchmark EGX30 index down more than 17% since its peak in January. (The index was up 9.9% in total for 2021.)<\/p>\n

To exit or to sort-of exit: <\/strong>Madbouly directed the Planning Ministry to produce a list of assets from which the government will fully exit, and another of assets in which it could offer stakes to private investors.<\/p>\n

We were expecting these details to surface at the end of May<\/strong>, when Madbouly said the government would release its official privatization strategy. An early copy of the document obtained by the press last month suggested that the government could look to fully exit 79 industries<\/a> over the next three years.<\/p>\n

Ministers, assemble:<\/strong> Madbouly used the meeting to give specific instructions about how ministers should start to work on the economic targets El Sisi has outlined, including upping private sector participation in the economy.<\/p>\n