Egypt's Qalaa says seeing strong foreign interest in asset sales

Major Egyptian investment firm Qalaa Holdings is drawing strong interest from Gulf and other foreign investors in a string of non-core assets that it is offering for sale, the firm's managing director said.

Qalaa raised $100 million by selling assets last year and the planned disposal of eight assets in 2015-16 is expected to bring in about $250 million, allowing the company to focus on core investments at home and abroad in energy, transport, agrifoods, mining and cement.

The company began planning the shift of focus eight years ago but the global financial crisis and then political turbulence in Egypt intervened. Now, Cairo's launch of fiscal and other economic reforms has started to revive investor confidence, making disposals possible.

"There has been a considerable amount of interest, particularly from the Gulf," Hisham El-Khazindar, also a co-founder of Qalaa, told Reuters on the sidelines of a business conference.

The sale of Misr Glass Manufacturing Co is expected to close this quarter as a preferred bidder, a Western firm, has been identified, Khazindar said.