Egypt’s Citaldel Capital may pursue an IPO… speak about decoupling

27 02 2008

Egypt’s Citaldel Capital may pursue an IPO… speak about decoupling

Posted by: in Raising Money

Filed under: Raising money, Private equity industry, Investments

Egyptian buyout firm Citadel Capital may actually be coming public. A report out of DealBook from the New York Times discusses that the firm plans to raise $150 million to $200 million from a public offering later this year.

The firm currently manages $7 billion in assets and intends to use the capital for ventures in the energy, food and manufacturing industries.

This article also noted that according to managing director Mr. el-Houssieny, Citadel is in discussions with four undisclosed international banks regarding the offering. It also notes that it is looking into whether it should list in London, Cairo, or Dubai.

In 2007, the company bought Rally Energy Corp, a Canadian oil company, for $849 million and was involved in the Egyptian Fertilizer Co.’s $1.41 billion sale.

This would be an interesting change of pace. Imagine a private equity and LBO firm in the U.S. announcing it would come public. They would be told to go away until next year. Now envision if you were selling this only to Americans and it was an Egyptian company wanting to do this. Maybe the decoupling argument isn’t as ludicrous as we think.