Citadel Capital, a leading investment company in Middle East and Africa region, said it has completed the planned purchases of additional stakes in its platform companies worth EGP3.7 billion ($530 million) as part of its regional strategy.

The asset purchases disclosed today cover the platform companies and subsidiaries outlined in Citadel Capital’s Form 16 submission on use of proceeds from the capital increase, as approved by the EFSA, said a company statement.

The move is aimed at transforming the company into an investment firm that will hold majority stakes in its subsidiaries in five core industries: energy, transportation, agrifoods, mining and cement.
 
At a meeting held last week, Citadel Capital’s board of directors accepted a report by its independent auditor (KPMG) certifying the EGP 3.7 billion in liabilities to co-investors and shareholders arising from these securities purchases.

These liabilities will be capitalized during the second subscription round for the capital increase, thereby resulting in full subscription to the share issuance, stated the Cairo-based company.
 
In December 2013, Citadel had invited shareholders to subscribe to a EGP3,641.8 million capital increase at par (EGP 5 per share). The capital boost would see the company’s total issued capital jump to EGP8 billion from EGP4.35 billion through the issuance of 728 million new shares.

This invitation was approved by the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) on December 1, 2013 and made public on December 4, said the statement from Citadel Capital.

The closing date for the first round of subscriptions took place on February 13, and the second round is expected to be completed next month in March 2014, it added.-TradeArabia News Service