• 1 Ahmed Abdelazim-Takseem El-Laselky, Cairo, Egypt
  • 16164

Qalaa Holdings Closes Sale of Microfinance Leader Tanmeyah to EFG Hermes

Qalaa Holdings (CCAP.CA on the Egyptian Exchange), an African leader in energy and infrastructure, announced today that its business unit Finance Unlimited has finalized the sale of its entire holding in subsidiary Tanmeyah Microenterprise Services, Egypt’s leading private-sector provider of microfinance solutions, to EFG Hermes in a transaction that values 100% of Tanmeyah at EGP 450 mn. Qalaa Holdings held an effective ownership of 70% in Tanmeyah.

“We are extremely proud to have played a role in building a business like Tanmeyah that provides much-needed financial solutions to companies and individuals that would otherwise effectively be cut off from the financial system,” said Qalaa Holdings Chairman and Founder, Ahmed Heikal. It’s a company that continues to have excellent growth potential within the current business environment in Egypt and we look forward to seeing Tanmeyah leverage its existing infrastructure and systems to grow its nationwide network of branches even further in the years to come,” added Heikal.

Established in 2009, Tanmeyah provides financial services to Egypt’s large underserved micro- and very-small-enterprise tiers. Tanmeyah had EGP 509 million in loans outstanding to 108,000 active borrowers at the end of 2015. The company has more than 1,500 employees today at 114 branches across Egypt and has served more than 365,000 clients since inception.

“Qalaa Holdings has always tried to invest in businesses that spur job creation, develop human capital and provide products or services that will have a positive impact on the lives of average citizens. While Tanmeyah directly addresses those at the base of the pyramid who have no access to the banking system, we have also invested in ECARU, a subsidiary of Tawazon, and Qalaa’s energy play focusing on refused derived fuel for a variety of industries deemed vital for the Egyptian economy.”

The divestment of Tanmeyah is inline with Qalaa’s strategy, key elements of which include deleveraging at the holding and subsidiary company levels; acquisition of additional stakes in selective investments within its existing portfolio; and share buybacks.

Tanmeyah is the latest in a series of divestments for Qalaa that also includes Misr Glass Manufacturing (MGM), Rashidi El-Mizan and ASEC Minya.

CI Capital acted as financial advisor to Qalaa Holdings on the transaction.