Karim Awad-led EFG Hermes signs $47.7-million leaseback agreement with MNHD

Egypt-based financial services group EFG Hermes Holding has signed a sale and leaseback agreement with the Egypt-based real estate development firm, Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (MNHD), worth about EGP750 million ($47.7 million).

EFG (Egyptian Financial Group) Hermes Holding is an Egyptian financial services company, with an operational footprint in the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

The group specializes in securities brokerage, asset management, investment banking, private equity and research under the leadership of Karim Awad, who has been the group CEO since 2013.

The sale and leaseback agreement with the real estate development firm will also include a few securitization issuances, as a follow-up to the transaction through a wholly-owned subsidiary of EFG Hermes Holding, EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions.

The transaction comes nearly two months after it signed a leaseback agreement with real estate powerhouse, Misr Italia Properties, amounting to EGP750 million ($47.7 million), with the purpose of refinancing the real estate development company’s landmark property, Garden 8 Mall.

MNHD CEO Abdallah Sallam said the transaction is part and parcel of the real estate company’s newly introduced leadership strategy to expand its operational footprint, as it continues to develop high-quality housing projects spanning the country.

“Our ongoing partnership with EFG Hermes enables us to raise and deploy capital more efficiently and unlock a magnitude of expansion and development prospects for the company,” he said.

“We are proud to be bolstering our partnership with MNHD’s new leadership, as the company is a pioneer in the real estate market space,” he added.

EFG Hermes Managing Director and Deputy Head of Investment Banking Maged El Ayouti said the group is pleased with the headway that it is making in the real estate market, with the transaction being a constituent element to its strategy to form lucrative partnerships across core industries.