Thursday, 8th January 2009

 

Egyptian property developer picks Swiss listing

Egypt's Orascom Development Holding raised Sfr195m (€119m) yesterday when it listed shares in Switzerland, the country where it is planning its first European development project and setting up its new international headquarters.

Orascom floated 5.66% of its stock in a primary listing on the Swiss Stock Exchange. It priced its shares at Sfr152 apiece, giving it a market capitalisation of Sfr3.4bn. UBS was sole bookrunner and lead manager on deal.

The company said its main reasons for listing in the country were establishing a Swiss holding structure that reflects its increasingly international presence. It also hopes to gain better access to international investors as it plots its expansion in Europe.

The company will have secondary listings on the Cairo Stock Exchange and Alexandria Stock Exchange.

Orascom, the family-owned business of Egyptian billionaire Onsi Sawiris, is pushing ahead with plans build a hotel development in the Swiss town of Andermatt. It marks the group’s first project in Europe and will hotels, apartments and a golf course. It also has plans for new international corporate headquarters in Altdorf.

The company has development projects in Egypt, Morocco, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to those in Switzerland.

Tags: Capital Markets , Egypt , Equities , Investment Banking , IPO , Orascom Development Holding , Switzerland

Brummel

Headline

Mayfair goes Modern

Sebastian + Barquet, a three-year old design gallery based in New York and Chelsea, is opening a new gallery showing museum quality pieces in Mayfair next month, the first in London to focus on international modernism from the 1940s to the 1960s. Its opening exhibition is dedicated to American modernist design and is curated by celebrated architect Eric Parry.

Rich Monitor

UK millionaire to auction Tiny Dancer - £12m estimate

A bronze version of impressionist artist Edgar Degas' most famous sculpture is being sold by one of the UK's wealthiest men, expected to reach a high estimate of £12m ($17.6m) next month.

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