IPO's high committee will look into first phase next month: Tawfik

Phase included floating 23 companies in banking, chemicals, petroleum, insurance sectors

Hisham Tawfik, Minister of the Public Enterprise Sector, said that the high committee for the programme of governmental initial public offering (IPO),will be held next month, to review the latest developments in the programme, and to consider moving forward with the first phase.
“First, we have to work on finishing the first phase of the programme, then to consider the other stages,” he told Daily News Egypt, during his participation in the Egypt Automotive Summit.
He added that there was no intention to amend the pricing decision, issued by the Council of Ministers to companies listed on the stock exchange, and there is no need to float the companies at a specific time.
On the possibility of floating the Eastern Tobacco Company before the end of the year, Tawfik said,”Everything is possible. Maybe before the end of the year, and maybe not.”
The Council of Ministers issued a decision to price companies listed on the stock exchange, at 10% plus or minus the average share price in the previous month, before contracting with a bookrunner.
The government has already announced the first phase of the IPO programme of state-owned companies. The phase included floating 23 companies in the sectors of banking, chemicals, petroleum, and insurance.
The programme was scheduled to begin in October with Eastern Tobacco and four other companies, but market declines have delayed the process.