Egypt’s EFG Hermes eyeing minority stakes in startups after AIB acquisition deal

Egypt’s investment bank EFG Hermes Holding is targeting minority stakes in startups after its acquisition of a majority stake in state-owned Arab Investment Bank (AIB), its chief executive told Reuters on Sunday.

The acquisition of the 51 percent stake in AIB will be finalised in the third quarter and will be financed from the bank’s internal resources, Karim Awad said.

EFG and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) signed on Thursday agreements to buy a total of 76 percent of the AIB.

Under the agreements, EFG subscribes to 423 million newly issued shares for 6.03 pounds per share, at a total value of 2.55 billion pounds, giving it an ownership of 51 percent stake in AIB. SFE acquired 207 million newly issued shares at the same per-share price totalling 1.25 billion pounds, making it having a 25 percent stake.

The National Investment Bank — AIB’s parent company — will have the remaining 24 percent, after buying stakes of previous minority shareholders.