Egypt : Qaala Holding divests stake in Pharos at $ 5.3 million deal
The investment firm Qaala Holding, previously known under the name of Citadel Capital, sold its direct and indirect shareholdings in Pharos Holding for Financial Investments, which amount to 80%, in a deal of 40 million Egyptian pounds ($ 5.3 million).
According to the company’s statement, the divestiture is part of its plans to sell non-core assets to focus on businesses in major segments of energy, cement, constructions, food, logistics and mining.
The recipient of the sale’s transaction is a group which is sponsored by the president and founder of Pharos. “We are particularly pleased to return control of the company to the visionary businessman who created it,” said Hisham El-Khazindar, CEO and Co-Founder of Qaala Holding, according to the comments reported by Egyptian newspapers.
“The exit of Pharos is part of executing our strategy to divest non-core businesses in a timely manner at the right valuations,” added Qaala Holding Director, Hisham El-Khazindar.
Qalaa also said the agreement was concluded with an investment consortium led by Pharos Chairman Dr. Mohamed Taymour.
Note that Pharos Holding offers, among others, intermediaries trading services. On this level, the balance sheet of activities during the year 2014, includes independent financial advice services for Orascom Telecom, Global Telecom Holding, or IPO of Arabian Cement which was oversubscribed several times. The holding had over 900 million Egyptian pounds ($117.96 million) in assets under management at the end of 2014, including equity, balanced, Shariah-compliant, fixed-income and capital-guaranteed portfolios.
Pharos Holding was established in 2006 and has financed several projects. The Holding has recently begun its transformation, and now seeks investments in the areas of agri-business, cement, mining, transport, logistics and energy. The Holding withdrew a $180 million loan disbursement last November from the loans worth $2.35 billion to fund Egyptian Refinery Company (ERC) project.
