Abu Dhabi’s ADQ buys stakes worth $1.85bln in Egyptian firms

Abu Dhabi’s ADQ buys stakes worth $1.85bln in Egyptian firms

CAIRO - Abu Dhabi's state holding company ADQ has bought shares worth $1.85 billion in five publicly traded Egyptian companies, two sources familiar with the transactions said on Tuesday, helping Egypt after the Ukraine crisis prompted foreign investors to flee.

The stock exchange said purchases for five companies were executed on Tuesday but did not say who the buyer was.

Egypt has been on the hunt for foreign exchange since Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted investors to pull billions of dollars out of its treasury markets, leading the central bank to devalue the currency by 14% on March 21.

Ukraine and Russia are the main source of Egypt's wheat supplies and their tourists are a significant source of foreign exchange. Egypt has been negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a financial support package.

It also received a $5 billion deposit in its central bank from Saudi Arabia last month along with a pledge from the Saudi state Public Investment Fund for additional funds designed to attract $10 billion in investments.

Egypt likewise secured a pledge from Qatar for $5 billion in new investment deals.

ADQ's purchases on Tuesday included 340.1 million shares of Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt's biggest private bank, for $911.5 million. State-owned