Finally, investors are seeing new offerings in the market that give exposure to either under-represented or new sectors. Indeed, Taaleem Management Services [TALM] has added yet another exposure to Egypt’s lucrative high-education segment, but Macro Pharma [MCRO] will add exposure to a totally new segment, cosmeceuticals. Ideally, we would list both names (i.e. TALM and MCRO) under Consumer.
Yesterday marked the trading debut of TALM, the first initial public offering (IPO) in more than a year. This USD131mn IPO was oversubscribed by 2.3x and 29.4x for the private and public offerings, respectively. Despite market woes over the past week, TALM got off to a positive start, up 6% at EGP6.10 vs. an IPO price of EGP5.75. The stock had hit an intraday high of EGP6.22 or 8% above its IPO price. Marking this year’s second IPO, MCRO will kick off public subscription for its USD100mn+ IPO on Sunday, 11 April. The private placement (estimated at USD95mn or 95% of the IPO) will close today, and the IPO price will be announced on Monday, 12 April.
TALM’s successful debut yesterday is an indicator that investors are looking forward to new stories that have growth potential. With more IPOs in the pipeline, investment banks stand to benefit, namely CI Capital Holding [CICH] (which is the financial advisor for both TALM and MCRO) and EFG Hermes Holding [HRHO] (which is the financial advisor for Ebtikar, another planned IPO for H2 2021).