The Qatar Investment Authority is negotiating with the Egyptian government for stakes in the Alexandria Container & Cargo Handling Company and the Eastern Company, sources close to the matter revealed to Daily News Egypt.
The authority aims to take 10 to 20% of the shares owned by the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport, which currently amounts to about 35%.
The deals are expected to be implemented by the end of this week.
The sources added that Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani is also expected to visit Egypt sometime in the next few weeks, after which, investments worth $20 billion will be announced, some of which will be pumped into estates and green energy projects, in addition to memoranda of understanding.
The sources indicated that the agency is also interested in investing in a number of non-government-owned companies, especially Cairo Investments.
They also said that part of the investments will be injected into the clean energy sector, whether by acquiring existing projects or establishing new projects in Egypt in cooperation between Egypt’s Sovereign Fund and the Qatari body.
The office of Baker McKenzie will play the role of legal adviser to the Egyptian government in the deal, while Matouk Bassiounywill act as the legal adviser to the Qatari side, and Al-Ahly Pharos will be the implementation adviser.
According to data from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI), the Qatar Investment Authority ranked ninth in the world with assets of $450bn.
Egypt is racing against time to fulfil a number of conditions set by the International Monetary Fund to approve a new loan programme for Egypt.
Goldman Sachs estimated the financing gap that Egypt needs from the International Monetary Fund to be about $15bn.
