Vodafone Egypt signed, on Tuesday, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ebtikar Holding for Financial Investments (Ebtikar), to obtain a 20% stake in the latter’s two electronic payment subsidiaries: Masrary and Bee.
The MoU paves the way for Vodafone Egypt to participate in the two e-payment platforms’ capital subscription with a 20% stake.
According to a press statement by Vodafone Egypt, this comes as part of the company’s strategy to increase its investments in Egypt and provide various digital payment services to its individual and corporate customers.
Recently, Vodafone International CEO Nick Reed pledged to increase the company’s investments in the Egyptian market during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Cairo.
Reed said that Egypt is witnessing a comprehensive development process, reflecting wide opportunities for investments. He expressed his company’s eagerness to expand its activities in Egypt, as one of the largest markets in the region in the telecommunications and information technology sector.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Vodafone Egypt’s CEO Mohamed Abdallah, Ebtikar board member and Chairperson of MM Group Khaled Mahmoud, and Ebtikar CEO and Chairperson of Bee Ayman El-Desouky.
According to the statement, the due diligence process would start immediately, and as soon as this transaction is completed, Bee and Masary will remain committed to all agreements and partnerships concluded with all parties operating in the Egyptian market without change.
Vodafone said that the deal is expected to boost the business volume in the two companies as they will benefit from Vodafone’s expertise in Africa to regionally expand.
For his part, Abdallah stressed that Vodafone seeks to increase its investment in Egypt.
Bee and Masary have been among the most important e-payments companies operating in the Egyptian market for more than 10 years, providing more than 800 payment services through more than 110,000 points of sale.
