​A consortium of international financial investors including the MENA LTV Fund has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Fawry, valuing the Company at EGP 773 million (c. USD 100 million)*; deal is the Fund’s third high-profile private investment. Cairo, 11 November 2015 Acting as part of a consortium of international financial investors, the MENA Long Term Value Fund (MENA LTV) has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Fawry, Egypt’s leading e-payment services platform, in a transaction that values Fawry at EGP 773 million (c. USD 100 million)*. Headquartered in Cairo, Fawry provides users with a secure electronic bill payment services solution, connecting consumers, merchants, governments and financial institutions on a consolidated gateway that is accessible through multiple channels, including point-of-sale machines, ATMs, post offices, online and through mobile wallets. MENA LTV is a partnership between Wellcome Trust and EFG Hermes, with the latter acting as the Fund’s dedicated investment manager. The Fund, which currently has assets under management of USD 450 million, has a mandate to invest in public and private long-term opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This transaction is MENA LTV’s third high-profile private investment in Egypt in as many years. “The MENA LTV Fund continues to make compelling private investments, calling on the unique mix of local-market expertise and global experience of our team of asset management professionals. The Fund is on track to generate USD IRR in excess of 30% on its first private investment, with similar targets for the Fund’s subsequent investments,” said Amr Seif, Head of Asset Management at EFG Hermes. Moataz El-Etreby, who leads the MENA LTV team as Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, added: “Fawry is a home-grown, scalable business, the kind that MENA LTV looks for as a long-term investor. The Fund has been structured to capitalise on the region’s secular growth story. It invests in domestically driven opportunities that provide exposure to the compelling demographics and that are operating in sectors with low penetration levels.” Members of the acquiring consortium alongside MENA LTV include the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund, the International Financial Corporation  and Helios Investment Partners. MENA LTV’s most recent investments in Egypt include the acquisition of a 15% stake in Wadi Degla, Egypt’s first private company specialised in building and operating private leisure / sports clubs, as well as a 46% stake in Tawfeer Ventures Ltd., a Kazyon-branded, hard-discount, mass-grocery retail chain. MENA LTV initially invested in Wadi Degla in 2012, and after the Company’s stellar performance increased its stake in 2014. Today, the Company operates five sports clubs across Greater Cairo, with plans to expand throughout Egypt. In addition, Wadi Degla has set out plans to expand regionally and diversify its revenue streams. In 2014, the Fund invested in Tawfeer Ventures Ltd., a greenfield partnership between Egyptian entrepreneurs and global experts in hard discount retailing. The Company has since grown to include more than 1000 employees and has opened more than 100 stores. Hard discounters concentrate on high volume and the usage of private label products to ensure prices are the lowest amongst other retail formats. The Company aims to build an extensive network of stores across the country that will be affordable and accessible to the vast majority of Egyptians. Fawry is an equally compelling play in a nation with a high percentage of unbanked consumers and broad regional expansion horizons. It is also MENA LTV’s first investment with a significant technology component. “Fawry is far more than the distinctive branding and colours we see in stores and on streets nationwide: it is a platform that owns its own secure, global-standard technology and that can be rolled out to bilingual markets around the world. It is an Egyptian success story in the making — one we are delighted to be part of today alongside such a high-quality group of international investors,” El-Etreby concluded.