Bill Gates is leading a group of US investors committing US$1 billion for a stake in construction and fertilizer company OCI NV in one of Egypt’s largest foreign currency inflows since the 2011 uprising.
OCI will absorb all local stock and global depositary receipts (GDR) of Orascom Construction Industries under a share exchange offer that has attracted more than US$2 billion in commitments, said the company, which is relocating from Cairo to Amsterdam. Its shares will be traded in both locations.
Microsoft Corp co-founder Gates’ Cascade Investment LLC joins Southeastern Asset Management and Davis Selected Advisers in helping fund expansion in Egyptian infrastructure projects as well as other activities.
The Sawiris family and Dubai-based buyout firm Abraaj Group, which together owned 60 percent of Orascom, will take part in the tender.
“The transaction underpins genuine investor appetite to invest in Egypt,” said Nassef Sawiris, who was chief executive of Orascom and will be an executive director of OCI.
“Unlike local shareholders who monitor events on a daily basis, sophisticated investors see the evolution of democracy having a long-term positive impact on the economy,” Sawaris said.
Laura Berger, a spokeswoman for Davis Selected Advisers, declined to comment on why the firm invested in OCI. Michael Larson, who manages Cascade for Gates, and Lee Harper, a spokeswoman for Southeastern, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The Egyptian economy has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak Mubarak, as foreign direct investments tumbled.
The government is in talks with the IMF for a US$4.8 billion loan to help stem the decline in foreign currency reserves.
GDP may expand 3 percent in the fiscal year that ends in June, according to the median estimate of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The economy expanded about 5 percent in the year preceding the uprising.
Orascom is Egypt’s biggest publicly traded company. After exchanging their GDR for OCI shares, the Sawiris family and Abraaj Group expect to at least maintain their holdings relative to their Orascom stakes, according to a statement.
The deal includes a mandatory offer to exchange all Orascom Construction’s Cairo-listed shares for OCI stock or 280 Egyptian pounds each, according to the filing.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
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