The Emiratis are closest to winning the Egyptian “Wataniya” and “Safi” deals

Emirati companies have approached the purchase of shares of no less than 20% to 25% of the National Company for the Sale and Distribution of Petroleum Products “Watania” and the National Company for Natural Water Bottling “Safi”, according to 3 people familiar with the file of the privatization of companies in Egypt by “East Economy”.

Egypt announced its intention to offer dozens of companies owned by the government and the armed forces, whether on the stock exchange or to strategic investors, but so far it has only offered a 10% stake in Telecom Egypt last week, at about 4 billion pounds. Egypt expects to collect two billion dollars from the proceeds of the program before the end of next June.

One of the people who spoke to “East Economy”, asking not to disclose their identities because the information is not public, revealed that the Emirati Agthia Group, affiliated to the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Fund “ADQ Holding”, had already made an offer to acquire a stake in Safi Company. While there is interest from the Emirati companies “ADNOC” and “ENOC”, and the Saudi “Petromin”, to acquire a stake in “Wataniya”. And one of the people stated that “ADNOC” is “the closest to submitting an acquisition offer so far, according to the progress of discussions and inquiries,” he said.

Agthia Group said in its response to the “East Economy” inquiries about the “Safi” deal that it “does not comment on what is being circulated in the media.” She added: “At Agthia, we are constantly studying opportunities for organic and inorganic growth, in line with our strategy for business development and our constant desire to achieve value for shareholders.”

The UAE holding “ADQ” is in the process of buying 25% of the Egyptian “Elap”.

Wataniya, which was established in 1993, owns about 255 service stations and fuel for cars, and has 20 stations under construction, and 25 stations in the planning stage, according to the website of the National Service Projects Agency.

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One of the people familiar with the file indicated that the Safi Company “was receiving more interest from one side, whether local or Arab, to acquire it, but its subsidiaries represented an obstacle, because those wishing to buy were looking to acquire the water activity only and not the subsidiaries.”

Safi was established in 1996 in Siwa Oasis, and it owns 4 factories, one of which is for water, the other for olive oil, the third for pickled olives, and the fourth for a salt production complex, according to the website of the National Service Projects Agency.

Emirati investments are a major supporter of Egypt’s economy, at a time when the largest Arab country in terms of population is facing a severe shortage of foreign currency, after the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which prompted the exit of about $22 billion in foreign investments in government debt instruments.

Egypt seeks from the offering program to obtain an additional resource to support the country’s budget, and it hopes that the intervention of strategic investors in the offering will be a tool to improve the position of the listed companies.