MNT-Halan opened with a 6.6% gain on Tuesday, with intraday highs up to 18%. It had offered a 20% stake via combined public and private subscriptions, targeting roughly 7.84 billion Egyptian pounds, or $150 million, and those books were well oversubscribed.
"The first day of trading was aligned with our expectations," CEO Mounir Nakhla said, pointing to trading volumes. He added the proceeds will help lift activity and fund new services.
The company bills itself as a fintech platform spanning consumer and microfinance lending plus e-commerce. It serves about 2 million active users annually, including 1.3 million borrowers, and had distributed more than 176 billion pounds of financing by the end of June.
MNT-Halan is leaning into a market where access to credit remains limited, even as the central bank pursues steps to broaden bank account access and other financial services for the country's 110 million residents.
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Next up, state-run Banque du Caire says it aims to collect up to 24.25 billion pounds by selling a 30% stake, with the offering potentially lifted to 45% if subscription demand justifies it. Together, the two offerings point to resilience in Egyptian equities despite pressure from the regional conflict.
Bloomberg's compiled figures show the benchmark EGX30 has risen by almost 22% from the beginning of the year. Officials say fresh listings are part of a broader push to re-energize a long-running privatization agenda that the government sees as central to economic revival. They note the program has faced delays because of the pandemic, regional turbulence - notably the Gaza and Iran conflicts - and disruptions to Red Sea shipping.
Nakhla said he is not concerned that tensions in the region will derail market gains, adding, "Egypt has demonstrated a lot of wisdom in managing a very complex state of geopolitics, and we're very, very confident in the steps the government is taking, both economically and geopolitically." For investors eyeing Egypt, the pipeline of sizable deals and a reform push set the tone for liquidity, pricing, and sector leadership on the EGX.
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