Egypt’s Beltone Financial, a unit of billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris’s OTMT, said Sunday it planned to convert up to a third of its share capital into Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) listed abroad.
Beltone executives will present the plan at the next general assembly on June 27, when they will also ask shareholders to approve a previously-announced 1 billion Egyptian pound ($113 million) capital increase and the acquisition of two small finance companies.
In a notice published in Egyptian newspapers, Beltone did not give a reason for the move, but the investment banking firm has seen its shares repeatedly suspended on the Egyptian stock exchange in recent months as the stock price has soared.
GDRs, which are issued by depository banks that buy shares of foreign firms, make it easier for investors in developed markets to invest in emerging markets companies.
The prices of the GDRs are based on the underlying shares but are traded independently.
Sunday’s announcement comes after sources said on Thursday that plans for Beltone to buy Commercial International Bank’s (CIB) investment arm for 924 million Egyptian pounds had been dropped because the deal had failed to win regulatory approval. The acquisition was agreed in February.
Source: Reuters
