Egyptian wealth fund to tempt investors with state asset sale
The newly formed Sovereign Fund of Egypt plans to take control of some of the government’s most promising assets and bring in private investors to develop them. The fund currently has a paid-in capital of 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($62 million) but that could rise to several trillion pounds according to the country’s President. It will start off by selling a 25-year concession, owned by the Egyptian Electricity Holding Co, to operate three power plants built by Siemens under a $6.6 billion deal signed in 2015. The fund will sell a majority stake to an investor, operator or infrastructure fund and retain around 30%. Other areas of interest are petrochemicals, particularly in industrial zones along the Suez Canal, wind and solar energy, mining and finance for small- and medium-sized enterprises.
