In July 2018, Qalaa Holdings announced that it has completed the sale of 100% of Bonyan for Development and Trade (Bonyan), from Qalaa Holdings subsidiary MENA Home Furnishings to Compass.
Bonyan, a specialty real estate developer operating in Egypt, is the owner of the award-winning Designopolis mall. Originally developed as a specialty furniture mall, Designopolis is an open-air asset designed by renowned architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill built on a 117,000 square meter plot of land located in West Cairo in the Sheikh Zayed area. Compass will repurpose the approximately 1 km long promenade of some 300 shops into a complete lifestyle destination that includes shopping, dining, office space and entertainment activities for the entire family.

In November 2017, Qalaa Holdings announced that it has exited its investment in DICE Sport and Casual Wear (DICE) through the garment manufacturer’s initial public offering (IPO) on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX). DICE is a leading integrated export oriented apparel and ready-made garments manufacturer that also owns a prominent apparel retail brand in Egypt. Qalaa held an indirect stake of 27% with total proceeds from the transaction totaling c.EGP 300 million.

Qalaa Holdings finalized the sale of its entire holding in subsidiary Tanmeyah Microenterprise Services to EFG Hermes in March 2016. The transaction valued 100% of Tanmeyah at EGP 450 mn while Qalaa Holdings held an effective ownership of 70% in the company. Established in 2009, Tanmeyah is Egypt’s leading private-sector provider of microfinance solutions, offering financial services to Egypt’s large underserved micro- and very-small-enterprise tiers. Tanmeyah had EGP 509 million in loans outstanding to 108,000 active borrowers at the end of 2015 with more than 1,500 employees at 114 branches across Egypt and has served more than 365,000 clients since inception.

In December 2015, Qalaa Holdings divested its cheese manufacturer, Misr October for Food Industries (El-Misrieen), to a domestic industrial investor at an enterprise value of EGP 50 million. The acquirer assumed all debt, liabilities and obligations of El-Misrieen, including bank debt of c. EGP 16.5 million. Qalaa had previously fully written down the value of its investment in El-Misrieen, which ceased operations in 2012.

In November 2015, Qalaa Holdings’ business unit Mashreq signed an agreement with the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone for the transfer of a concession contract. The agreement covers a 210,000 square meter plot of land in East Port Said awarded for the construction on a build-operate-transfer basis of a liquid bulk terminal at East Port Said, the first tank terminal and logistics hub of its kind in the region. During the time Mashreq has held the concession, the project has been planned out and developed to a point where it can now be built out rapidly. The parties have agreed that the concession’s transfer will see the Authority repay all costs incurred by Mashreq related to the development, with the latter handing over the concession’s land and all associated designs.

In the second quarter of 2015, Qalaa concluded the sale of its 27.5% stake in Misr Cement Qena, a publicly traded cement company in Egypt, which resulted in a gain from sale of investment equivalent to EGP 101 million. The transaction also saw proceeds being utilized to deleverage at the ASEC Cement level, with debt reduced by EGP 365 million.

In the second quarter of 2015, Qalaa concluded the sale of its 27.5% stake in Misr Cement Qena, a publicly traded cement company in Egypt, which resulted in a gain from sale of investment equivalent to EGP 101 million. The transaction also saw proceeds being utilized to deleverage at the ASEC Cement level, with debt reduced by EGP 365 million.

In December 2014 United Foundries, a non-core asset of Qalaa Holdings, signed sale and purchase agreements for 100% of two metallurgy companies for a total deferred consideration of c. EGP 260 million. Under the terms of the transactions, a group of investors led by one of the original founders and shareholders of the two companies — acquired 100% of the shares of Alexandria Automotive Casting SAE (AAC) for a deferred consideration of EUR 27 million and 100% of the shares of Amreya Metal Company SAE (AMC) for a deferred consideration of EGP 20 million. Both companies produce cast parts and components for the local and global automotive assembly industry.

In December 2014 United Foundries, a non-core asset of Qalaa Holdings, signed sale and purchase agreements for 100% of two metallurgy companies for a total deferred consideration of c. EGP 260 million. Under the terms of the transactions, a group of investors led by one of the original founders and shareholders of the two companies — acquired 100% of the shares of Alexandria Automotive Casting SAE (AAC) for a deferred consideration of EUR 27 million and 100% of the shares of Amreya Metal Company SAE (AMC) for a deferred consideration of EGP 20 million. Both companies produce cast parts and components for the local and global automotive assembly industry.

Qalaa Holdings acquired a 66.12% stake in the Sudanese Egyptian Bank (SEB) in 2006, a North Sudanese Islamic commercial bank established in 2004 with the aim of facilitating trade between Egypt and Sudan. Post-acquisition, Qalaa Holdings played an instrumental role in growing SEB from a small, trade focused bank into a full-service, Shariah-compliant financial institution with a diverse portfolio of thousands of corporate and individual clients. In early 2014, Qalaa Holdings sold its stake in SEB to the Islamic Solidarity Bank of Sudan for a total consideration of US$ 22 million. SEB was a portfolio company of Finance Unlimited, a non-core Qalaa Holdings platform in the regional banking and finance industry.

Qalaa Holdings acquired a 66.12% stake in the Sudanese Egyptian Bank (SEB) in 2006, a North Sudanese Islamic commercial bank established in 2004 with the aim of facilitating trade between Egypt and Sudan. Post-acquisition, Qalaa Holdings played an instrumental role in growing SEB from a small, trade focused bank into a full-service, Shariah-compliant financial institution with a diverse portfolio of thousands of corporate and individual clients. In early 2014, Qalaa Holdings sold its stake in SEB to the Islamic Solidarity Bank of Sudan for a total consideration of US$ 22 million. SEB was a portfolio company of Finance Unlimited, a non-core Qalaa Holdings platform in the regional banking and finance industry.

Qalaa Holdings acquired control of Helwan Portland Cement Company (HPCC) in a series of transactions in late 2004 and early 2005 as part of ASEC Holding. Post-acquisition, Qalaa Holdings quickly worked to inject pre-identified senior management, establishing a new internal control system and restructuring the firm’s finances. In August 2005, the firm sold its 68% stake in HPCC to Suez Cement, the local subsidiary of Italcementi, at an implied enterprise value of US$ 795 million, yielding a gross IRR of 287% on the sale, equal to a gross multiple of investment of 1.9x.

Qalaa Holdings and a group of co-investors acquired a leading Egyptian urea fertilizer producer EFC in July 2005 with a view to create value by expanding EFC’s production capacity and to use it as a platform for a regional fertilizer play. In less than two years, the management team doubled EFC’s production capacity to 1.3 million tons per annum and positioned the fertilizer producer to pursue new ventures in Algeria, Nigeria and Libya. In March 2007, Qalaa Holdings was approached with an attractive proposal from a GCC-based investor to acquire 100% of EFC. Following several rounds of negotiations, Qalaa Holdings agreed to sell EFC in a deal worth US$ 1.4 billion in June 2007. At the time, the transaction was Egypt’s largest M&A deal and the biggest private equity sale in the Middle East. The sale yielded a Gross IRR of 96.8% and a multiple of invested capital of 3.6x.