MNT-Halan Sets 20% Share Sale As Cairo IPO Takes Shape

MNT-Halan has put a size and a timetable on its plan to enter Egypt’s stock market. The fintech’s parent intends to sell 320 million existing shares in its Egyptian business, equivalent to 20% of the company, with trading expected before the end of October if regulators approve the offer and market conditions hold.

That is a meaningful step beyond the listing application TechBooky reported in September. A listing application tells investors that a company wants a place on the exchange. The newly outlined initial public offering, or IPO, tells them how many shares the parent plans to sell. The sale has not happened, the final price has not been set and an expected October start remains conditional.

According to Reuters’ account of the company’s statement, the offer is planned for both institutional investors and the Egyptian public. The 320 million shares are existing shares held by parent MNT Investments, rather than newly issued stock. That means proceeds from this part of the transaction would go to the selling shareholder, not automatically into the operating company for expansion.

MNT-Halan has grown from a local lending platform into a broader payments and financial-services business. It says it has about 1.9 million active customers and a gross loan book of approximately EGP46.7 billion at the end of June. It has also expanded beyond Egypt, acquiring a bank in Pakistan and a micro-leasing business in Turkey. Those numbers help explain the interest, but public investors will also examine credit quality, funding costs and how much growth can be sustained.

The proposed IPO follows a private funding round that put a $1.4 billion value on the wider group in June. That figure should not be treated as the price of the Egyptian offer. Bookbuilding and the final prospectus will determine what investors are actually being asked to pay for the shares on sale.

For African technology, the test is larger than one valuation. A substantial local IPO would offer a rare public-market route for a fintech that grew with private capital. It would also bring regular disclosures and closer scrutiny. Investors now need the approved prospectus, price range and confirmed trading date before this moves from an intention to a completed market debut.