Egypt's SODIC says seeking to take over Madinet Nasr

Egypt’s Sixth of October Development and Investment Co (SODIC) said on Sunday it was aiming to take over Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development in an exchange of shares.

The offer is conditional on SODIC acquiring at least 51 percent of Madinet Nasr’s shares, SODIC said in a statement to the stock exchange.

Madinet Nasr said in a separate statement to the bourse it had received the written offer on Sunday and would study it.

“The deal, if completed, will create a powerful economic entity in the Egyptian real estate market,” SODIC’s statement said.

SODIC said it would exchange one of its shares for two of Madinet Nasr’s in a direct swap.

Based on SODIC’s last closing price of 19.02 pounds, the offer values the whole of Madinet Nasr at about 11.4 billion Egyptian pounds ($636 million), according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Madinet Nasr had a market value of 7.8 billion pounds at its last close.

After a brief halt in trading, SODIC shares were up around 5 percent and Madinet Nasr’s were around 10 percent higher.