Banque du Caire debuts on EGX in Egypt's largest-ever IPO

CI Capital Investment Banking, as lead global coordinator and bookrunner, announced the completion of the initial public offering of Banque du Caire and the start of trading in its shares on the Egyptian Exchange, the largest IPO in the market's history.

Some 6.8625 billion shares, representing 45% of the issued capital, were sold at EGP 5.30 per share, the top of an indicative range of EGP 4.82 to EGP 5.30, valuing the offering at EGP 36.37 billion, or about $648 million. The private tranche accounted for 95% of the offering, or 6.519 billion shares, while the public tranche accounted for 5%, or 343.1 million shares.

Total investor demand reached EGP 255 billion, or 7.0 times coverage. The statement said the private tranche drew EGP 205.8 billion in demand, the highest level for a private tranche in the EGX's history, with 6.0 times coverage rising to 19.8 times after excluding strategic investors.

Commitments of $100 million each from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation helped upsize the offering from 30% to 45% of capital. CI Capital said it generated about 60% of total institutional demand and contributed to 64% of the allocated book, and that the order book attracted broad international, regional and local participation. The implied market capitalisation of the bank reached EGP 80.83 billion, or about $1.46 billion, and the stock opened at EGP 5.30 and closed at EGP 5.31 on its first trading day.

What do these terms mean?

Initial public offering (IPO): The first sale of a company's shares to investors on a stock exchange, used to raise capital and widen the ownership base.

Coverage: The ratio of orders for shares to the number of shares on offer. Seven times coverage means orders reached seven times the amount available.

Private tranche: The part of an offering reserved for institutional and large investors rather than the general public.