Egyptian Exchange’s biggest firm delisted from EGX 30

The Egyptian Exchange adopted significant new amendments approved by the Indicators Committee during a semi-annual review of market indicators, exchange chairman Atef Sherif said on Monday.

As part of those changes, a total of six companies left the EGX 30, making room for six new companies to enter trading, Sherif told the state-run online news portal Al-Ahram Gate.

Fourteen companies left the EGX 70, and 11 left the EGX 100, Sherif continued.

However, the most significant change is the exit of Orascom Construction Industries Company (OCIC) from the EGX 30, he added.

OCI NV — OCIC’s Dutch-listed parent — closed a month-long offer on Sunday to buy the 50.2 million shares of the company in Cairo for LE255 each, or swap them for those of the Amsterdam-based fertilizer maker, paving the way for the delisting of the Egyptian stock market’s biggest firm.

Egypt’s markets regulator approved OCI’s takeover offer after Orascom Construction reached a LE7 billion agreement with the government in April to settle back taxes.

According to an OCI statement as of Sunday's close of the tender, after the completion of the buyout, OCI expects to own 97.44 percent of OCI S.A.E.  

Based on the results announced by Egypt Exchange yesterday,1.6 percent of Orascom Construction’s shares are now available to trade in Egypt, below the 5 percent minimum required for listing. Subsequently, Orascom grew to a market value of LE50.3 billion pounds on Sunday.

Businessman Naguib Sawiris, the brother of OCI Chief Executive Officer Nassef Sawiris, said in a July 5 interview with Bloomberg TV that his family would “resume investing in Egypt” after the military ousted Islamist President Morsi.

The Sawiris family will own a controlling stake of almost 57 percent of the Dutch firm.