• Gourmet has officially filed for an IPO, planning to list up to 40% of its shares as a major exit.
• The company’s transition from a family-owned business to a listed entity reflects a growing trend among Egyptian family firms.
• The EGX will launch futures contracts on the EGX 30, enabling investors to hedge, speculate, and improve market liquidity this year.

Gourmet

Gourmet, Egypt’s luxury food retail company, officially submitted a request to the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) to go ahead with an IPO. The move marks a major exit milestone for B Investments, one of the company’s key investors. 

According to Enterprise, the offering could include up to 40% of Gourmet’s shares. This follows years of strong growth and improved operational performance. The IPO also reflects a shift in the company’s exit plan. They had previously been planning to seek a foreign buyer, but are now leveraging the liquidity of the Egyptian Exchange. 

Gourmet’s journey from a family-owned business to a listed company reflects a growing path for Egyptian family firms entering public markets. This can be viewed as a reference for the trajectory of family businesses in Egypt. This comes at a time when such companies are increasingly turning toward governance, professional management, and exits via the stock market.

EGX

According to Alarabiya Business, Islam Azzam, Executive Chairman of EGX, stated that the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) is preparing to launch trading in financial derivatives within weeks.

Chairman Azzam also noted that this year will see the launch of futures contracts on the EGX 30 index. Furthermore, he explains that if the experiment proves successful, it will be gradually extended to other indices, then to individual stocks, followed by options contracts. 

Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price on a specific date in the future. These are widely used in stock markets and commodities trading.The EGX chairman expressed optimism about financial derivatives and their ability to reshape liquidity dynamics in the capital market.