The shares of electronic payment solutions provider E-finance Investment Group were admitted to the Egyptian Stock Exchange on October 20 at an initial price of 13.98 Egyptian pounds per share, after raising 5.84 billion Egyptian pounds ($372 million) during its recent IPO on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.
“E-finance has been listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, marking a new chapter in the company’s history […] The robust demand for its shares demonstrates local and international investors’ faith in the company’s operational model and future growth. It is prepared to take advantage of our market’s increased need for digital services,” Ibrahim Sarhan, the company’s president, said.
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Here Is What You Need To Know
- When the stock market closed, E-finance’s share price was 21 Egyptian pounds, up 50.2 percent for a company that is still in its infancy on the stock market, with a market capitalization of 22 billion Egyptian pounds (about $ 1.4 billion).
- With 5.84 billion Egyptian pounds raised during its initial public offering, the fintech has raised the most money on the Egyptian Exchange since 2005, when Egypt Telecom raised 5.1 billion Egyptian pounds in the stock market. In a public and private offering, E-finance sold a total of 417.77 million shares, or 26.10 percent of its capital.
- The strong oversubscription of the offer reflects the strong interest of foreign and domestic investors in the company’s securities.
- It should be noted that E-finance said in September that it planned to sell 14.5 percent of its capital in a maiden public offering for its IPO, which is set to take place in the fourth quarter of 2021.
A Look At What e-finance Does
The Egyptian government owns the fintech company, which was created in 2005. The company offers a wide range of digital services through subsidiaries, in addition to processing EGP 2.1 trillion in government transactions. These subsidiaries include:
- e-cards, Egypt’s largest payment card manufacturer, which provides integrated smart solutions for banking, transportation, culture, education, clubs, and smart city services.
- Khales, through a network of more than 326k POS machines and digital channels such as a mobile app and a digital bill payments portal, serves as a central bill processing hub for 13 partners.
- e-aswaaq, a digital purchasing platform with over 300,000 merchants specializing in agriculture, commerce, industry, and tourism;
- e-nable, a business process outsourcing (BPO) arm, provides HR and IT outsourcing as well as full contact center services.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer