Egyptian investment bank Beltone Financial Holding SAE is planning acquisitions in the country's leasing and consumer finance sectors, and might plan a microfinance startup, CEO Bassem Azab told Bloomberg News.
Azab said in an interview published Feb. 7 that Beltone is also looking for acquisition opportunities outside Egypt to diversify beyond equities. Investment banking chief Sobhy El Sehrawy added that the company would also manage up to three IPOs in Egypt in 2018 in the consumer, healthcare and industrial sectors and has applied to co-manage a share sale in Nigeria.
The head of the company's brokerage unit, Mostafa Abdel Aziz, said it plans to stretch out its research coverage in other countries under an "aggressive" 2018 strategy and increase the number of analysts, according to the report.
Beltone is owned by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.
