Egypt Bourse, Religious Endowments in ‘Advance Talks’ to List Two Affiliates

The talks to enlist two new companies affiliated to the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments (Awqaf) in the country’s stock market are in ‘advanced stage’, said stock Exchange head Mohamed Omran.

The talks are over the floating the shares of Awqaf-affiliated El-Hawamdia Contracting and Damanhur Carpet Company on EGX, he revealed.

Omran stated on Sunday that the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) approved several weeks ago the listing of two Awqaf-affiliated companies, but delayed the move after realising that some of these companies’ shareholders are involved in legal cases not settled yet.

There are no other final agreements to enlist other companies on EGX, he noted.

The Egyptian top official added that EGX approached several government and private companies to list their shares, where officials of those companies welcomed the proposal but have not taken any serious steps yet in this regard.

Elsewhere, Omran announced that the EGX listing committee will discuss the current week the listing of the first ETFs company, adding that the actual listing will be carried out next week upon completing all documentation.
The company is expected to be added to EGX-listed companies this week. Beltone will issue the IPO prospectus after obtaining the approval of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA), the top official told state-owned news agency MENA.

Two months earlier, Omran had said the Minister of Awqaf Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa agreed in principle to study the offering of companies affiliated to the ministry for public subscription.
The move is aimed at capitalizing on the current activity in the local stock market, Omran said, adding that the IPOs will positively reflect on both the stock exchange and those companies.
According to Omran, Gomaa said he is keen on increasing the number of the ministry’s listed companies and avoiding the delisting of the currently listed ones.