Manufacturer Egyptian Steel has announced that it has planned for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2015 and expects to float up to 30 per cent of its shares in the local stock market
According to Reuters, Egyptian Steel chairman Ahmed Abou Hashima said the company planned to also increase production capacity by seven-fold over the next two years.
“The market in Egypt is very promising. We have a very large population and increasing consumer demand,” said Hashima. The Egyptian bourse has not had an IPO for three years now.
Egyptian Steel was established in 2010 as a joint venture between some Egyptian and Qatari investors. The firm has capital of US$290mn and produces about 300,000 metric tons of steel a year at its Port Said plant, according to company sources.
The steel manufacturer plans to open another plant in Alexandria later this year, with a capacity to produce 250,000 metric tonnes of steel.
Two more plants are due to open in Beni Suef and Ain Sukhna on the Red Sea coast, in early 2015, said Hashima. Egyptian Steel’s production capacity is expected to reach two million metric tonnes by 2017, Reuters reported.
