The government of Egypt has postponed the sale of stakes in the public bank Banque du Caire in an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Initially scheduled for mid-April, the operation is deferred to a future date, according to local sources.

Several Egyptian strategic investors from other Arab and non-Arab countries had expressed interest in the offer, and individual investors were expected to subscribe to a minority stake. The postponement was mainly due to fears that the Bank's newly listed shares might lose value on the Cairo Stock Exchange, due to the bad sentiment generated by covid-19 in the financial markets.

HSBC and EFG Hermes, which have been retained as arrangers in the international and local markets respectively, are expected to continue to work on promoting the transaction.

The privatization of Bank of Cairo was announced three years ago and the government expects to cash $500 million from the operation.

Idriss Linge