CAIRO, 18 June 2005 — Cairo, Middle East’s most populous city, witnessed last week the establishment of a giant Egyptian-UAE-Saudi business alliance identified as Oasis Egypt. The new group is initially capitalized at $150 million.
Alliance groups Orascom Telecom of Egypt, Maged Al-Futaim Group of the UAE and Olayan Group of Saudi Arabia said that this is the first cooperation between the three groups.
They added that they plan to invest in companies offered for privatization also in companies involved with textile, food, agro industries, also in real estate development projects in the country.
The alliance has not decided yet if it is going to invest outside Egypt.
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris and founder of Orascom Telecom, the fastest-growing emerging-market cell phone company in the world, said that the activities of the alliance are far away from the communication sector and that the alliance will be run by an Egyptian management team.
“This is a project that is manly focused on boosting development in Egypt and show that the country has a great future and that we want to be part of this future,” said Sawiris. “We will cooperate with the Egyptian government and work closely with them so that both sides will be benefited,” he told reporters.
Sawiris alone owns 40 percent shares of the company and Olayan Group and, Maged Al-Futaim Group own 30 percent each.
In a press release, Maged Al-Futaim Group, said it has reached an (initial) agreement with the Egyptian government to invest up to LE2.5 billion in the City Center Almaza project to occupy 150,000 M2 land on Cairo, on Suez Desert Road.
Project is scheduled for completion by early 2008. Project involves a huge commercial and recreational complex.
Maged Al-Futaim Group also owns two Carrefour outlets in Cairo and Alexandria with plans to pump up to LE300 million to extend the Cairo outlet.
