Qatar in talks with Egypt to purchase 30% stake in 7 state-owned hotels

According to informed sources, quoted by Reuters, the Qatari sovereign wealth fund is negotiating the deal with The Sovereign Wealth Fund of Egypt (TSFE).

Qatar eyes the hotels not just for their value as real estate assets but also for their historical value, since one of these hotels dates back to the 1800s, according to sources.

Egypt's Holding Co. for Tourism, Hotels, and Cinema – a state-owned company – owns many hotels.

The company's portfolio includes Marriott Mena House Hotel, Cairo Marriott Hotel, Shepherd Hotel, Steigenberger Cecil Hotel, Sofitel Winter Palace Hotel, Legend Old Cataract Aswan, and Cosmopolitan Hotel.

Egypt's privatization programme

Egypt is implementing a broad privatization program to offer 32 state-owned companies operating in 18 sectors to strategic investors within a year under a $ 3 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Last week, Mohamed Metwally –  CEO of NI Capital, the Egyptian government's financial adviser –  announced that Egypt is preparing to offer two state-owned companies as investments before the end of the current fiscal year.

Egypt-Qatar ties

Egypt and Qatar have boosted their relations on all levels and exchanged high-level visits. Cairo and Doha celebrated last December in Cairo the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. Several ministers, officials and foreign ambassadors to Cairo attended the celebration.

In May, Qatari Minister of Finance Ali Al-Kuwari stated that his country is committed to injecting $5 billion of investments into the Egyptian economy as was promised last year.

Qatar is the third largest Arab state investor in Egypt with 160 companies that injected investments worth nearly $2 billion, according to a previous statement by Cabinet Spokesperson Nader Saad.