From Bloomberg Africa

Etisalat Misr, the Egyptian phone company controlled by Emirates Telecommunications Corp., is in talks with banks about what may be the country’s largest initial public offering in almost five years, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Etisalat Misr, 66 percent owned by the Abu Dhabi company known as Etisalat, has asked banks for proposals to manage the share sale, the people said. The IPO is planned for Cairo and may raise about $500 million, they said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. A spokesman for Etisalat Misr declined to comment when contacted by phone today.

Egyptian companies are reviving share sales as they seek to benefit from a 30 percent gain in the country’s benchmark EGX30 Index this year. Edita Food Industries, a snacksmaker part-owned by London-based buyout firm Actis LLP, is considering an IPO, four people familiar with the matter said in May. Arabian Cement Co. raised $110 million that month in an offering, the country’s first since the 2011 uprisings.

Read more at Bloomberg Africa