Egypt: OCI’s Amsterdam relocation gets green light

Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) said shareholders had approved its offer to acquire its ordinary shares listed in Cairo in exchange for cash or OCI shares listed in Amsterdam. Shortly after the report, the company’s shares rose 1.7% to 267.86 Egyptian pounds at the close in the capital, the strongest since January 22nd. The stock is up 6.1% this year, outpacing a 4.9% gain for the benchmark EGX 30 Index, amid plans to transfer the listing to NYSE Euronext. Orascom Construction comprises a quarter of the EGX 30’s market value.
According o the company, 99.9% of minority shareholders were in favor of the plan which paved the way for the option of exchanging their stakes for stock in Amsterdam-based Orascom Construction Industries or selling them to a group of investors led by Bill Gates Cascade Investments LLC for 280 pounds per share. The group, which includes Southeastern Asset Management and Davis Selected Advisors, has committed $2 billion toward buying stock.
However, companies which are major shareholders in Orascom like the Egyptian Sawiris family and Dubai-based private equity company the Abraaj Group decided to abstain from voting on the decision after the egytioan financial market regulator requested for it.
More than 97% of holders of OCI’s London-traded shares, who represent 74% of the total, had agreed to exchange their stock for OCI NV shares, the company said last week.
According to Omar Darwazah, head of investor relations of the company, there will be a file a tender offer for the Cairo-based shares next week.
Orascom Construction Industries Netherlands shares also increased 2.5 percent to $39.99 today, bringing their gain since trading started on January 25th to 2 percent.