Egypt’s steel industry giant EZZ Steel to delist its shares from EGX
The delisting process is contingent upon approval from the EGA, with the company's chairman authorized to call the meeting to vote on the proposal.
The company has announced that it will offer to buy back shares from shareholders wishing to sell at a fair price.
This price will be based on the highest closing price during the previous month (EGP 118.98 per share), the average closing prices over the past three months (EGP 108.19 per share), or the fair value determined by an independent financial advisor.
EZZ Steel has appointed BDO Keys Financial Advisory to perform a detailed valuation and assessment of a fair value for the shares.
The board unanimously approved a maximum purchase price of EGP 120 per share to fund the delisting.
The board stated that it reserves the right to halt the delisting process and cancel the call for the EGA meeting if the valuations exceed this amount.
In November, a major fault in a blast furnace at one of Ezz Steel's Ain Sokhna plants interrupted production, sending the company’s stock south by 9.33 percent on the Egyptian Exchange, leading to a market loss of EGP 5.8 billion (117.9 million USD), with the stock closing at 104.7 EGP (2.11 USD).
The interruption is expected to last nine months and reduce production by 1.6 million tons annually.
It will likely lead to lower sales of flat steel products and a decline in the company’s foreign currency revenues.
Earlier in August, EZZ Steel faced scrutiny when the European Trade Commission launched an anti-dumping investigation into its hot-rolled flat steel exports, following a complaint by the European Steel Association (EUROFER).
The complaint alleges that Ezz steel was sold at unfairly low prices in the EU market.
EZZ Steel, one of the fastest-growing steel producers in Egypt, is known for its technological advancements.
The company’s factories have an annual production capacity of 7 million tons of long and flat steel products.
Total investment in EZZ Steel factories amounts to $5.9 billion and the company employs over 8,000 workers.
Ezz Steel's sales surpassed 100 billion Egyptian pounds (2.03 billion USD) in the first half of 2024, with the company achieving a profit of 2.3 billion Egyptian pounds (45.9 million USD) compared to losses of 810 million Egyptian pounds (16.3 million USD) during the same period last year.
In July 2023, the board of directors of Al Ezz Dekheila Steel Alexandria, a subsidiary of EZZ Steel, also approved its voluntary delisting from EGX.