Fintech unicorn MNT Halan is proceeding with a long-anticipated initial public offering in Egypt, seeking to capitalize on a stock-market rally and booming consumer lending in the Middle East's most populous nation. The company plans to offer 320 million shares, or about 20% of its share capital, through a private placement to institutional investors and a public offering on the Egyptian stock exchange, according to a statement Thursday. The offer price will be determined through a book-building process, which is expected to be completed this month, subject to regulatory approvals.
The deal covers only MNT's Egyptian business, which is likely to be valued at between $900 million and $1 billion. Post the IPO, the selling shareholder, MNT Investments BV, has committed to inject up to 4 billion Egyptian pounds ($76.95 million) by subscribing for additional shares at the offer price. The share sale comes at a key moment for Egypt, where the government is pushing to boost private-sector growth, promote offerings of state-held entities and encourage more private-sector listings.
Despite the economic disruptions from the US-Iran war, Egypt's benchmark equity index has outperformed its Middle Eastern peers except Oman. The index is up over 25% this year, while fintech e-Finance for Digital and Financial Investments, which raised more than $370 million in a 2021 offering, has gained more than a fifth. The IPO also reflects the growing clout of the non-banking financial services sector in the North African nation.
In the country of around 110 million, the number of people using consumer finance rose 65% in the January-June period to 7.9 million, according to the Financial Regulatory Authority's latest report. Financing over the same period rose more than 75% from a year earlier to almost 67 billion pounds. MNT estimated that, as of December, it held 24.3% of the nation's non-bank microfinance market and 14% of the non-bank consumer finance market.
Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. and EFG Hermes are the joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the IPO.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing