التكنولوجيا وأخبارها بوابة مصر لأخبار تكنولوجيا المعلومات والإتصالات وفي أفريقيا كما تعتبر مصدر رئيسي للمعلومات حول تكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات والفرص الاستثمارية المرتبطة بالاقتصاد الرقمي في المنطقة بالكامل
Saudi Public Investment Fund Acquires 25 Percent Stake in e-finance, Becoming the Group’s Largest Shareholder
10 e-finance for Digital and Financial Investments S.A.E. (“e-finance”, “EFIG” or the “Group”, EFIH.CA on the Egyptian Exchange), Egypt’s first fintech platform and one of its leading developers of digital payments infrastructures, announced today that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has acquired 25 percent of the Group’s outstanding shares. Following the transaction, the PIF has become the largest single shareholder in e-finance Investment Group, demonstrating investors’ confidence in e-finance’s track record of financial and operational success and the Group’s future prospects.
“We are delighted to welcome the Saudi Public Investment Fund as a strategic investor in e-finance Investment Group,” said Mr. Ibrahim Sarhan, Managing Director and Chairman at e-finance. “The PIF is a globally recognized investment powerhouse with a history of successful involvement across a variety of high-tech markets, and we look forward to benefitting from the Fund’s technical, industrial, and commercial support. Management at e-finance believes that the PIF is an ideal long-term partner which will contribute significant technological and commercial capabilities as we seek to deliver on our strategic objectives. With the PIF’s support, we are more confident than ever in the Group’s ability to deliver tailored, scalable solutions for all kinds of essential services, to create digital platforms that enable third parties to connect and transact, to continue rolling out a variety of value-added solutions, and to accelerate innovation by supporting high-potential players in the financial services sector. By better enabling us to deliver on these goals, the PIF’s support will support our efforts to drive strong growth over the years to come.”
The Public Investment Fund is one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, boasting a world-class investment portfolio with a focus on long term, opportunistic investments across 13 strategic sectors and several global markets. The PIF had USD 620 billion in assets under management at the close of Q1 2022.
“With the Saudi PIF as our leading backer,” remarked Sarhan, “we believe that the Group is well positioned to outperform expectations for its financial results over the remainder of 2022, and to deliver on efforts to double our revenues and profits over the coming three years.”
Besides diversifying the Group’s shareholder base and bringing foreign investment in e-finance to 35 percent of outstanding shares, it is anticipated that the Saudi PIF’s acquisition of a leading stake in e-finance will help grow the Group’s commercial profile beyond Egypt as it benefits from the business development opportunities offered by the PIF network to foster growth. The PIF’s investment highlights the major growth prospects offered by e-finance as the Group continues to pioneer the digitization of the Egyptian economy and begins to establish a commercial footprint on the African continent. With the support of the Group’s growing international investor base, e-finance aims to penetrate a range of African and Arab markets moving forward.
Saudi PIF’s investment in e-finance comes following the Fund’s launch of the Saudi Egyptian Investment Company (SEIC), founded to invest in promising sectors throughout the Egyptian economy. This is in line with the PIF’s 2021-2025 strategy of securing high-value investments in the MENA region and with the Egyptian government’s efforts to attract large foreign investments that will boost economic growth and expand the economic role of Egypt’s private sector.
“e-finance is proud to be at the forefront of the Egyptian government’s vision of an open, digital, and dynamic economy that creates sustainable opportunities for citizens and provides investors with major growth prospects,” Sarhan continued. “We are similarly proud to be on the front lines of Saudi Arabia’s growing efforts to identify high-potential investment prospects across Egypt. The Group is confident that it will successfully leverage the new investment from the PIF to accelerate business growth and achieve our strategic objectives, and we believe that the Egyptian economy will continue to provide dynamic opportunities for growth across a variety of segments and markets,” he concluded.
