Saudi Arabia’s Alhokair Planning IPO of Egyptian Malls Unit

Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Alhokair Group plans to raise as much as $400 million from the sale of shares in its Egyptian malls unit, owner of one of the country’s largest shopping centers.

The family-owned group appointed CI Capital to advise on the offer, Muhanad Awad, chief executive officer of FAS Capital, the financing and investment arm of Alhokair, said in a Riyadh interview. Alhokair will sell a 25 to 30 percent stake in Egyptian Centres, which operates Cairo’s Mall of Arabia.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund expansion of Mall of Arabia and develop new shopping centers, he said. The company expects to raise between 2.5 billion and 3 billion Egyptian pounds ($340 million to $400 million), Awad said.

Egyptian Centres will join companies including Twinkie cake maker Edita seeking to take advantage of a surge in Egypt’s stock market and the return of political stability after the election of Abdel-Fattah El Sisi as President last year. The benchmark EGX 30 Index is the ninth-best performing stock index in the world over the past 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“We are performing very well in Egypt and we think it will be the right time to IPO that business in the next 18 to 24 months,” said Awad.

Alhokair is also planning a $2 billion initial public offering in its Saudi Arabian Arabian Centres malls unit.

Source: Bloomberg