Misr Life Insurance to list shares on Cairo stock exchange in Q1-2019

Egypt’s state-owned Misr Life Insurance is planning to list on the Cairo stock market within the first quarter of next year, chief executive Ahmed Abdel Aziz said on Sunday.

The move comes as part of the Egyptian government’s programme to sell some shares of state enterprises in coming years to boost public finances and draw more investors to the Cairo stock exchange. The list includes some companies already traded on the exchange and others that will hold an initial public offering.

“The listing is on the back of an anticipated increased investor appetite for insurance firms,” Abdel Aziz told Amwal Al Ghad.

“We are seeking to boost the number of individuals and institutions in the company’s shareholder structure and to fully abide by the governance and transparency requirements,”

The parent company, Misr Insurance Holding held last May its general assembly meeting and voted to list its life and non-life insurance units, Misr Insurance Company and Misr Life Insurance Company on Cairo stock exchange.

The last time state-owned companies were listed on the exchange was in 2005 when shares of Telecom Egypt, the state’s landline monopoly, and oil companies Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals and AMOC were floated.