The Ministry of Finance is planning to sell its 20% stake in ALEXBANK to Intesa Sanpaolo Group, the Italian banking group that owns about 80% of the bank, sources close to the deal told Daily News Egypt. The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024 and is valued at around $150-175m, according to the sources.
The sources said that the negotiations for the acquisition started in February last year and that ALEXBANK is the first government-owned bank to be privatized. The International Finance Corporation, which had a 9.75% stake in the bank, sold it to Intesa Sanpaolo Group in 2020 for $162m.
A government document reviewed by the stock exchange revealed that the Egyptian government intends to exit some of its holdings in other companies as well, aiming to raise $5bn from October 2023 to June 2024. The document, which was published by the stock exchange in late September, said that the government will sell its stake in Vodafone Egypt to a strategic investor before June 2024 and will list the Canal Mooring and Lights Company on the Egyptian Exchange before the end of this year. It also said that the government will list one of the power plants and award three desalination plants to strategic investors before the end of September 2023.
Intesa Sanpaolo is a leading banking group in Italy that provides services to individuals and businesses through a wealth management and consulting business model, with a strong focus on digital and financial technology. It has a large international presence, with 5,200 branches and 20.2 million customers around the world, in 12 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
