CAIRO: Concord International Investments announced that its New York-based private equity funds acquired 8.16 percent of Lecico Egypt’s share capital, the firm said in a statement.
Coral Growth Investments Limited and Coral Growth Investments (Parallel) Limited have collectively purchased 3,265,105 shares of Lecico Egypt.
The investment in Lecico is the Coral Fund’s second investment in Egypt. Its first investment is Egypt’s Amoun Pharmaceuticals. “These investments are in line with Coral Funds policy to invest in Egypt’s trophy growth companies, the statement added.
Lecico is one of the world’s largest sanitary ware producers and a major ceramic tile producer in Egypt and Lebanon. With a production capacity of 6.7 million pieces in 2008, it stands as the sixth largest sanitary ware producer worldwide. It has 38 percent of Egypt’s and 45 percent of Lebanon’s market share.
With a production capacity of 22.5 million square meters, Lecico is among the major players in the tile market in both Egypt and Lebanon with a market share of 17 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
Lecico is a major exporter of sanitary ware and tiles with exports representing 60 percent of its turnover; with 86 percent of sanitary ware exports directed to European markets. Lecico’s sanitary ware exports represent 20 percent of the UK market.
Lecico was first founded in 1959 in Lebanon by the Gargour family. In 1975, they expanded their sanitary ware production to Egypt where they incorporated Lecico Egypt as a shareholding company in Khorshid Alexandria.
Currently, Lecico Egypt acts as an operating and parent company for the Lecico Group of companies, which includes manufacturing facilities and trading subsidiaries
In 2007, the company recorded consolidated sales of LE 989.5 million.
