​The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) has today approved the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services S.A.E. (ECMS or Mobinil)’s issuance of an EGP 1.5 billion bond fully underwritten by EFG Hermes, the leading investment bank in the Arab world. ECMS, Egypt’s leading mobile telecommunications company, which operates under the brand name Mobinil, will use the proceeds from the bond to cover planned capital expenditure, investments and network enhancements. The issuance will be made in two tranches: an EGP 1.4 billion private tranche targeting institutional investors, in addition to an EGP 100 million public tranche dedicated to retail investors. EFG Hermes Investment Banking is acting as Sole Financial Advisor, Lead Arranger and Sole Underwriter to ECMS on the bond, which stands as the first bond issue in Egypt to have been marketed to financial institutions without being fully underwritten by commercial banks. The EGP 1.5 billion issuance is a five-year bullet repayment bond with a fixed coupon rate of 12.25%. It has a senior unsecured unsubordinated ranking at least pari passu with all of ECMS’ other senior obligations. “This offering is both the largest on the Egyptian market in 2009 and the first to be fully underwritten by an investment bank in Egypt,” said EFG Hermes Investment Banking Head Karim Awad. “This is just the latest — and most significant — debt transaction to be managed by EFG Hermes Investment Banking since the launch of the debt practice as our third line of business earlier this year.” Mobinil will launch the bond on Thursday, 31 December 2009 when it publishes the Public Subscription Notice (PSN). The transaction is expected to close by the end of January 2010. News of the Mobinil bond comes just weeks after EFG Hermes arranged a USD 1.05 billion syndicated loan for the Egyptian Nitrogen Products Company (ENPC).