Mohamed Metwali, the new owner of Omar Effendi and head of the Arab Company for Investment and Development (AICR), said on Sunday the Egyptian government has approved the AIRC's acquisition of Saudi Arabian Anwal's stake in Omar Effendi.
He added, however, that if reconciliation does not take place between the government and Anwal, the deal will be terminated.
Metwalli said the purchase of 85 percent of the Omar Effendi stake aims to keep the company and its trademark.
International arbitration is currently considering a lawsuit filed by the Egyptian government to rescind the contract for the sale of Omar Effendi to the Saudi investor. A court decision about the matter is expected in December. President of the National Company for Construction, Ahmed al-Sayyed, said the contract mandates the government's consent in a sale by the Saudi investor.
Meanwhile, Minister of Trade Rachid Mohamed Rachid, who is currently presiding over the Ministry of Investment, met with officials from the National Company for Construction to examine the legality of the sale of Anwal's stake
Safwan al-Salmi, vice president of the National Company for Construction, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the Saudi investor does not have the right to sell his stake before the Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration issues its ruling on the matter. The National Company for Construction has filed a lawsuit calling for canceling the contract signed between Anwal and the AICR, which it said violated the selling contract signed in 2006.
Tareq Abdel Aziz, the lawyer for the Saudi investor, said the head of AICR has been trying to reconcile the Saudi investor with officials at the National Company for Construction.
Omar Effendi was founded in 1856 as Orosdi Back. It changed hands and acquired its current name in the 1920s, before being nationalized in 1957.
An Egyptian state-owned firm holds ten percent of the shares, while the remaining five percent is owned by the World Bank.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
