Sign in
SIC bid for acquisition of Egypt’s CIRA gets regulatory greenlight: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has approved CIRA Education majority shareholder Social Impact Capital’s (SIC) mandatory tender offer to acquire up to an additional 48.78% of CIRA, the authority said in a disclosure (pdf) yesterday.
It’s all part of the PIF’s plan to acquire CIRA and use it as a regional platform: The Saudi Egyptian Investment Company — a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund — said in May that it would buy into SIC. SIC used the cash injection to launch its mandatory tender offer for the rest of CIRA’s shares.
(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background and outside sources.)
Remember: SIC has offered to purchase some 284.3 mn of CIRA’s shares at EGP 15 a piece putting the transaction’s value at EGP 4.26 bn. SIC currently holds a 51.2% stake in the country’s leading private education company.
A tempting offer: SIC’s offer of EGP 15.00 per share represents a 21.8% premium on CIRA’s average share price of EGP 12.32 over the three months leading up to when SIC submitted its offer, and a 9.9% premium on its average share price of EGP 13.65 over the six-month period leading up to the offer.
What’s next for CIRA? If the mandatory tender offer is successful, SIC plans to delist CIRA Education from the EGX, with the founding El Kalla family expected to remain invested in the company and our friend Mohamed El Kalla staying on as CEO to lead the company’s regional growth.
Post-acquisition plans: SIC plans to enhance the quality of education offered at CIRA schools, open up a number of universities in partnership with local and foreign players, and expand regionally — all within a year of the acquisition.
The transaction was nearly two years in the making, a source with first-hand knowledge of events told us earlier this year, but it took the float of the EGP this spring and CIRA’s clear ambition to become a regional player in education to bring it home. PIF is known to be exceptionally rigorous in its investment decision making process, employing top advisors to make certain that it invests only in companies with clear growth prospects that fit the fund’s mandate to grow Saudi and regional champions.
ADVISORS: Our friends at EFG Hermes are brokering the transaction and Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy is buy-side legal counsel.
