Qalaa Holdings has sold its stakes in cement subsidiaries ASEC Minya Cement and ASEC Ready Mix, representing 46.5% and 55%, respectively, to Misr Cement Qena for approximately EGP1bn ($124.6m).

Ahmed Heikal, Qalaa Holdings Founder and Chairman, said: “Both ASEC Minya and ASEC Ready Mix have established themselves as critical players in the vital Upper Egyptian market thanks to the exceptional dedication and hard work of its management team.”

Financial close will take place on or before November 20, 2015.

Qalaa Holdings and its subsidiary National Development and Trading Company (NDT) own 70% of ASEC Cement.

ASEC Minya Cement is an Egyptian cement producer located in Upper Egypt which commenced commercial operations in August 2013 with a name plate capacity of 2 million tons per annum.

ASEC Ready Mix is a producer and distributor of ready mix concrete; the company operates 6 batch plants in Upper Egypt with production in FY14 reaching 382 thousand cubic meters.

Qalaa said that the sale of these subsidiaries will help accelerate the delivery of Qalaa’s strategy, with a key element being deleveraging at the holding and platform company levels — a total of approximately EGP 940m ($117.1m) in debt will be deconsolidated at the ASEC Cement consolidated level owing to the transaction.

Qalaa reiterates its commitment to its FY15 strategy, with its key elements being deleveraging at the holding and platform company levels; acquisition of additional stakes in key platform companies; selective investments within existing platform companies; and share buybacks so long as these trade at a significant discount to their fair market value.

"While we are happy to have built both companies, this exit allows us to achieve our objectives in an expedient way,” added Heikal.

Qalaa Holdings retained CI Capital Investment Banking as financial advisor and Arab Legal Consultants as legal advisors.