Egypt’s GB Auto says shareholders take up $125.8 mln cash call

Shareholders in Egypt’s GB Auto have subscribed to almost all of its 960 million Egyptian pound ($125.82 million) rights issue as the auto assembler and distributor pushes ahead with expansion plans.

Egypt’s sole distributor of Hyundai, Mazda and Geely cars as well as three-wheel tuk-tuks and motorbikes made by India’s Bajaj, aims to invest $1.5 billion in new factories, in a vote of confidence in the country’s political stability.

Political turmoil has hammered Egypt’s economy since an uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pledged to get the economy back on track and lure back investors by creating a more business-friendly climate.

GB Auto said it raised 958.7 million Egyptians pounds, or 99.86 percent of its proposed $960 million rights issue.

Egypt’s largest listed auto assembler and distributor told Reuters last week that it wanted lower tariffs on car imports from the United States and Asia, fearing that free trade agreements signed with Europe, Turkey and Morocco would distort competition. (Writing by Yara Bayoumy, editing by Louise Heavens)