Citigroup is selling off its consumer banking business in Egypt, and has ten bids in all, although there is no indication of the amount of the bids, as reported by Reuters. Citi’s net investment in Egypt totaled $250 million as of June. Bidders include Emirates NBD, Mashreq, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Islamic bank and others.
Citi’s banking business in Egypt includes 8 locations in Cairo and 1 in Alexandria, and serves 100, 000 customers. There are several bids from United Arab Emirates, as relations between the two countries has been strong since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi removed Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from ruling the country in 2013. Qatar seems less interested, as Egypt has taken power from Western Banks.
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Kuwait-based Americana, the largest food chain in the Middle East, with 1, 200 stores, is halting the sale of its operations, given disagreements over the price, as reported by Reuters. The al-Kharafi family owns Americana, which has a market cap of 1.13 billion dinars or $3.84 billion. The company runs franchises, such as KFC, Pizza Hut and TGI Fridays.
KKR, CVC and Saudi food company Savola are among the bidders. Americana was also looking into a sale with investment bank Rothschild. Apparently the al-Kharafi family has been unhappy with the offers, and a spokesperson said that presently, “there is no traction on the deal at all.” The al-Kharafi family owns 66.7% of Americana.
