Emaar Misr investors offer to sell 81 per cent of IPO back to developer

An overwhelming majority of shareholders in Emaar Misr for Development have asked to sell their shares back to the Egyptian developer at the price at which the stock was first sold to the public.

Emaar Misr on Tuesday bought back 15 per cent of its shares just a month after the stocks were listed in Cairo.

The Egyptian property developer is majority owned by Emaar Properties of Dubai, repurchased the shares after stockholders offered more than five times the number of shares the company agreed to buy back amid an investor rush to dump the stock that has plummeted since the company’s listing in Cairo last month.

Emaar Misr had offered to buy back 90 million shares at the initial public offering price of 3.8 Egyptian pounds per share, while shareholders offered to sell more than 487.317 million shares.

Emaar Misr shares have been hammered since they debuted on the Egyptian bourse, losing 10.5 per cent since. They closed at 3.44 pounds on Tuesday.

The share price was dealt another blow this week as two senior executives resigned to pursue new opportunities.

Emaar Misr sold 13 per cent of its shares in a 2.28 billion pounds (Dh1.06bn) initial public offering in June.

It was the biggest IPO in Egypt since the real property developer Talaat Moustafa Group’s offering in 2007. Emaar Misr’s offer price of 3.8 pounds a share was below the price range announced in May.

Separately, the luxury property company on Tuesday posted strong first-half results, with net profit soaring 283 per cent to 522 million pounds on a 56 per cent increase in revenue to 1.56bn pounds.

"There is a high level of demand from local and outside investors for premium lifestyle properties in Egypt due to the lack of supply for this segment," said Mohamed Alabbar, the chairman of Emaar Properties and now the non-executive chairman of Emaar Misr, according to a filing to the stock exchange on Tuesday.

Mr Alabbar was previously the chairman and managing director. Mohamed El Dahan was named the managing director. “Our sales forecasts remain strong, and we look forward to continuing our sales momentum into the second half.”

A spokeswoman for Emaar Properties said the changes were announced this year during Emaar Misr’s IPO process.

Emaar Misr’s committed net sales rose 20 per cent to 3.9bn pounds in the first half of this year as the company sold 748 units across all of its residential developments.

The firm’s total assets stood at 16.3bn pounds at the end of June.

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