EFG Hermes, a leading financial services corporation in Mena, has successfully concluded its advisory on two high-profile secondary stake sales of publicly traded companies, one in Kuwait and another in Egypt.

In Kuwait, the firm’s UAE-based investment banking division acted as Joint Bookrunner to Al Imtiaz Investment Group Company K.S.C.P. on the sale of a 10 per cent stake in Humansoft K.S.C.P. (“Humansoft”) to institutional investors by way of an accelerated bookbuilding process. Listed on the Boursa Kuwait (KSE), Humansoft is the largest private tertiary education company in the GCC. The EFG Hermes syndicate desk built a strong book of high-quality global institutional investors for the USD 120 million stake.

In Egypt, the firm co-managed an accelerated bookbuilding process for the sale of emerging markets private equity firm Actis’ remaining 7.5 per cent shareholding in Edita, Egypt’s largest snack foods company. EFG Hermes built an extensive book of long-term international institutional investors for the EGP 898 million stake, which was successfully placed in under 48 hours.

“We are delighted that our second GCC transaction in under a month has closed in Kuwait, a market in which we are the largest securities broker,” said Mohamed Ebeid, co-CEO of the Investment Bank at EFG Hermes.

“With the fresh investor interest coming as the Kuwaiti market gains momentum, our unrivaled investment banking platform and placement power makes EFG Hermes ideally positioned to help both regional companies and global investors capture new opportunities.”

Ebeid noted that strong international interest in Humansoft underscores the fact that this international interest goes well beyond the region to include global institutions. This comes as Kuwait is set to be accorded new weight in frontier market indices as Pakistan is upgraded to MSCI Emerging Market status in May 2017.

“Actis’ exit of its remaining stake in Edita is just the latest development in our firm’s long-term relationship with Edita and Actis, having been joint global coordinator and joint bookrunners for Edita’s 2015 initial public offering on the Egyptian Exchange and its GDR offering on the London Stock Exchange” said Mostafa Gad, co-head of Investment Banking at EFG Hermes.

Added Mohamed Fahmi, Co-Head of Investment Banking at EFG Hermes: “Strong appetite for investment in the education sector from the global investors is a testament to the strength of global interest in Mena opportunities that offer access to the region’s core investment drivers, including young, fast-growing populations and consumer markets. Our ability to manage multiple equity capital market transactions simultaneously and across different markets is a testament to both the depth of our investment banking team and the placement power of our platform, which has uniqueaccess to high-quality global institutional investors with proven interest in compelling emerging and frontier markets equity stories.”

The Humansoft transaction is EFG Hermes’ second close of a GCC-based equity capital market transaction in under a month, following the USD 105 million initial public offering of ENBD REIT on the Nasdaq Dubai in March, where EFG Hermes was joint global coordinator and bookrunner.

Meanwhile, EFG Hermes is currently acting as sole global coordinator and joint bookrunner for the London Stock Exchange IPO of a DIFC-based oil and gas services provider, which was announced in late March. The firm is also sole global coordinator and bookrunner for the IPO on the Egyptian Stock Exchange of Raya Contact Center, a leading multinational business process outsourcing company. – TradeArabia News Service