Banque du Caire intends to acquire HC Securities

Banque du Caire has made an offer to acquire a controlling stake in HC Securities.

Sources close to the negotiations said that a preliminary memorandum was signed between the two sides for the acquisition, and the bank also started conducting due diligence checks, which are scheduled to be completed within weeks. According to what was reported by the Stock Exchange newspaper.

While other sources revealed to the newspaper the existence of competing offers, without disclosing the competing parties to acquire the company, while the sources confirmed that Banque du Caire is the closest to the implementation of the deal, as the bank was Starting the ignorance checks.

and the sources indicated that businessman Hussain Shukri, Chairman of the Board of Directors, had earlier ended his acquisition of the National Saudi Bank's 30% stake in the company in order to complete the original sale. Of the company.

> In 2008, a direct investment fund owned 100% by NCB Capital, affiliated with the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, acquired Morgan Stanley's stake in HC with a value of nearly 240 million pounds. And the valuation of the company at 800 million pounds, which was about 4 times the book value multiplier.

HC has one of the best financial statements for financial companies in the Egyptian market, as it is free from debt and issues, which may create an additional incentive for the value of the deal compared to the average market multiples And the last deals executed in the sector, such as Arabiya Online and Pharos.

According to what the newspaper mentioned, the founder and chairman of the company, Hussein Shukry, decided to make the decision to sell several years ago for personal reasons. However, some challenges were facing the implementation of the deal, which was One of the most prominent of these was the company's building in the smart village, which is fully owned by it, which raised the value apart from the basic activity, in light of the high prices of buildings inside the smart village.

and according to published information, the company's sale does not include the Smart Village building, which was separated as a separate asset belonging to Shukri, which makes the sale process easier than before.

Shukri founded HC Corporation in 1996 and has three main activities: investment banking, stock brokerage, as well as asset management business. The second largest asset manager in the Egyptian market in terms of the number of managed investment funds amounting to about 11 funds, in addition to managing portfolios, with a total assets under management of about 7 billion pounds, and it occupies an advanced position in brokerage activity through 8 different branches between Cairo, Alexandria, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt It has a Custodian License.