The Egyptian Cabinet decided on Wednesday to qualify the army-affiliated companies; ELWATANYA for the sale and distribution of petroleum products and National Co. for producing natural water (Safi), in preparation for their listing on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).
This comes as a step of a postponed plan to float a number of army-affiliated companies on the EGX through Egypt’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).
Egypt’s Sovereign Wealth Fund handles the process of selecting and structuring assets, with the aim of expanding the shareholder base and promoting local and foreign private investments.
It identified three other companies owned by the National Service Projects Organization as candidates for sale, but it has not yet revealed their names.
According to the announced data, the three companies operate in the food, non-food consumer goods and petrochemical sectors.
The two companies would have been listed on the EGX during the first quarter of 2021, after Egypt's sovereign fund determined the shares to be sold in the two companies.
According to the earlier offering plan, it could include allowing private sector investors to own 100 percent of the shares of the two companies.
The listing of the companies affiliated to the army on the stock exchange would make them subject to all the registration and disclosure rules announced in the capital market, including those related to their financial statements and other information.
Egypt's sovereign fund signed, in February 2020, a cooperation agreement with the National Service Projects Organization to invest in its companies.
