Qalaa Holdings exits Misr Glass Manufacturing, United Glass for US$105mn

Egypt’s Qalaa Holdings’ subsidiary MENA Glass Ltd. Has signed agreements to sale its entire stakes in Misr Glass Manufacturing Company (MGM) and United Glass Company (UGC).

In as statement released by Qalaa on Sunday, the two companies are set to be sold at a combined equity value for 100% of both MGM and UGC of 828 million Egyptian pounds (US$105.7 million).

According to the statement, Misr Glass Manufacturing Company – a leading producer and exporter of glass containers across the Middle East and North Africa- will be sold to Middle East Glass Manufacturing Company, while the United Glass Company (UGC) to be sold to MGM Holding.

The agreeing parties expect to finalize the closing during the first quarter of 2016 as soon as the purchasers complete their funding of the transactions, the statement added.

Qalaa Holdings – African leader in infrastructure and industry- is currently has an effective ownership of 15.2% in MGM and UGC.

On other side, Qalaa Co-Founder and Managing Director Hisham El-Khazindar said “As our fifth disposal announcement this quarter, the transaction underscores both our commitment to divesting non-core operations and our ability to conclude deals at the right valuations,”.

“It has been a pleasure to work with the team at MGM to help it capture new opportunities. We now look forward to watching it grow under the stewardship of Middle East Glass as we ourselves focus on our core investments.”, he added.

The exit is helping accelerate the delivery of Qalaa’s FY15 strategy, with its key elements being deleveraging at the holding and platform company levels; acquisition of additional stakes in key platform companies; selective investments within existing platform companies; and share buybacks so long as the company’s shares trade at a significant discount to their fair market value.

Qalaa maintains the stance that further divestments to support its strategic goals will be executed as need be and is already in advanced stages of negotiations for several divestments, including Dina Farms and ASEC Cement’s operations in Algeria (Zahana Cement Co. and Djelfa Cement Co.). Qalaa has recently announced exiting its investments in confectioner Rashidi El-Mizan, cheese manufacturer El-Misrieen, and cement companies ASEC Minya and ASEC Ready Mix.

As part of its transformation into a holding company, Qalaa has since 2014 divested non-core assets including Sudanese Egyptian Bank, float glass manufacturer Sphinx Glass, two metallurgy subsidiaries of United Foundries Co, and investment bank Pharos Holding.

Pharos Holding acted as financial advisers, and Zaki Hashem Law Office acted as legal counsel, to the sellers on the transaction.