DUBAI: Egypt’s EFG Hermes is working on a $500 million merger and acquisition in Saudi Arabia and expects more deals to come out of the kingdom this year, especially from the private sector, its head of investment banking told Reuters.
Saudi Arabia has made attracting greater foreign investment a key part of its economic Vision 2030 plan as it tries to diversify the economy away from its reliance on oil.
The kingdom’s impending inclusion in the FTSE Russell emerging markets index this month is expected to draw billions of dollars of foreign fund flows.
“Saudi I think will be very busy,” Mohammed Fahmi said, on the sidelines of the bank’s investment conference in Dubai which is taking place this week.
“I’m seeing a lot of RFPs (request for proposals) coming from Saudi for IPOs... Private sector companies looking to go public, which I think is a valuable thing.”
The bank is also advising on an initial public offering (IPO) in Saudi Arabia, Fahmi said, but would not give any more details.
EFG Hermes is one of the banks advising on the potential $1 billion listing of Fawaz Alhokair Group’s Arabian Centers Company expected in the second quarter, Reuters has reported, although EFG has declined to comment on its role.
Another executive at EFG Hermes told Reuters in December that the investment bank was working on a major M&A deal in the health sector in Saudi Arabia.
In addition, Fahmi said there were deals underway in the automotive, banking, and facilities management sectors in the kingdom and in the United Arab Emirates.
In Egypt, EFG Hermes is working on a potential fourth quarter $300 million IPO, Fahmi said.
Another IPO for state-owned Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling may occur as soon as the second quarter of this year, Mohamed Ebeid, co-CEO of EFG Hermes Investment Bank told Reuters. EFG Hermes is managing the sale along with Citigroup.
Egypt this week revived its privatization program, which has lain dormant for more than a decade, with the sale of a 4.5 percent stake in tobacco monopoly Eastern Company, which EFG adivsed on.
EFG Hermes is also working on a number of IPOs with private companies in Egypt, Ebeid said, mostly on the industrial side.
EFG Hermes advising on $500m M&A deal in Saudi Arabia
EFG Hermes advising on $500m M&A deal in Saudi Arabia
- Saudi Arabia has made attracting greater foreign investment a key part of its economic Vision 2030 plan as it tries to diversify the economy away from its reliance on oil
- EFG Hermes is one of the banks advising on the potential $1 billion listing of Fawaz Alhokair Group’s Arabian Centers Company expected in the second quarter
US pump prices surge as Iran war upends global energy supply
- Fuel prices jump over 10 percent as oil prices surge
- Analysts predict further price rises due to market conditions
MARIETTA/NEW YORK : US retail gasoline and diesel prices are soaring as the US-Israel war with Iran constrains oil and fuel exports, which could be a political test for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of midterm elections in November.
Fuel prices jumped more than 10 percent this week as oil rose above $90 a barrel, its highest in years, adding pain at the pump for consumers already strained by inflation.
Trump on Thursday shrugged off higher gasoline prices in an interview with Reuters, saying “if they rise, they rise.”
The president had vowed to lower energy prices and unleash US oil and gas drilling during his second term, but much of his tenure has been marked by volatility and uncertainty amid shifts in policies like tariffs and geopolitical turmoil.
The US is the world’s largest oil producer. It is a major exporter but also imports millions of barrels a day since it is the world’s largest oil consumer.
As of Friday, the national average prices for regular gasoline stood at $3.32 a gallon, up 11 percent from a week ago and the highest since September 2024, according to data from the motorists association AAA. Diesel was at $4.33, up 15 percent from a week ago, surging to the highest since November 2023.
Midwest, south feel the pinch
US motorists in parts of the Midwest and the South, including states that supported Trump, have seen some of the steepest increases in fuel costs since the conflict in Iran started.
In Georgia, a swing state, average retail gasoline prices rose 40.1 cents a gallon over the past week, according to fuel tracking site GasBuddy.
Andrenna McDaniel, a health care insurance worker in South Fulton, Georgia, said she was surprised to see prices skyrocket overnight.
“They jumped up so quickly,” she said on Friday, adding that she does not agree with the war at all.
McDaniel, a Democrat, said that for now she is only driving for the most important things, and feels lucky that she works from home so she does not have to drive as much as other people do. Georgia voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Trump voter Richard Soule, 69, a US Air Force veteran and a retired firefighter, said a little pain at the pump is worth Trump’s efforts to protect America.
“When President Trump went in there and bombed out their nuclear, and they just thumbed their nose at it, I believe he did the right thing at the right time,” Soule said on Friday as he filled up his Ford F-150 truck in Marietta, Georgia.
Other states, including Indiana and West Virginia have seen prices rise by 44.3 cents and 43.9 cents, respectively.
Prices may rise further
More pain may be on the way, analysts said, as oil prices continue to trend upward. On Friday, US oil futures settled at $90.90 a barrel, up nearly $10 and the biggest single-day rise since April 2020.
“Given current market conditions, the national average price of gasoline could climb toward $3.50 to $3.70 per gallon in the coming days if oil continues rising and supply disruptions persist,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said.
The disruptions in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade conduit, have boosted demand for US oil abroad, which in turn has driven up prices for domestic refiners too.
“The US has weaned itself off of its dependence on Middle Eastern crude, but obviously Asian refineries, and to a lesser extent, European refineries have not,” Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst with OPIS. “That’s what you’re seeing happen in the spot market, because the demand for US exports rise, and so the price rise.”
Seasonal factors could add further pressure. Gasoline prices typically go up in the spring and peak in the summer due to higher gasoline demand and production of summer-blend gasoline, which is more costly to produce. Diesel fuel saw an even more aggressive jump since Iran began retaliating against US and Israeli strikes, significantly disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Global diesel inventories have remained in tight supply due to heavy demand for heating and power generation during a prolonged winter in the US and other parts of the world and a structural tightness of refining capacity. Sticker prices of everything from food to furniture go up when the cost of diesel goes up, as the fuel is mainly used in freight transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and global shipping, analysts said.
“In a world where buzzword seems to be ‘affordability’, that is certainly not going to help,” Cinquegrana said.
