Egypt bourse approves listing of state-run Banque Du Caire

Egypt’s bourse announced Wednesday it approved listing of state-owned lender Banque Du Caire.

Banque Du Caire, one of Egypt’s largest and oldest public lenders, applied to list on the Egyptian stock exchange with a capital of 2.25 billion Egyptian pounds ($123.97 million), the bourse said earlier this month.

“The bank’s IPO, which is a first step in the public IPOs, is a positive step to refresh the market and attract investments and shows the government commitments to its economic reform programme,” Minister of Investment Dalia Khorshid told reporters earlier on Saturday.

EFG-Hermes and HSBC had been selected as consultants for the initial public offer.

In March 2016, the central bank governor Tarek Amer announced that Egypt will float parts of two state-owned lenders, United Bank and Banque du Caire, on the Egyptian stock exchange this year.

Some 270 companies are listed on the Egyptian stock market and the number of active investors is between 80,000 and 100,000.