ODH will probably disappear from the stock exchange
The Sawiris family's bid for the shares was successful and the company, whose shares have shrunk to a fraction of their original value since its inception, will probably disappear from the stock exchange.
LPSO Holding Ltd, based in the Cayman Islands, has taken control of 97.52% of the shares in Orascom Development Holding. This was announced by the real estate developer Orascom following the expiry of the extension period for a public purchase offer. LPSO is backed by the Egyptian entrepreneurial Sawiris family, which floated ODH on the Zurich Six stock exchange in 2008, raising over CHF 600 million according to reports at the time. The offer was published shortly before the end of 2024. At the time, the Sawiris had already acquired 77.50 of the registered shares in ODH (IB reported).
Shortly after the IPO, Orascam's share price plummeted. Its price fell from the IPO price (a good CHF 150) to below CHF 30 in a very short space of time, and since an interim high in the following year, it has gradually approached the price regions in which it was last seen bobbing along. In the media coverage of the share buyback, there has been much talk of displeasure among disappointed investors and doubts about the appropriateness of the buyback price (CHF 5.60) have been voiced in several media. Insiders are said to estimate the value of the share at a multiple of the offered price due to large land reserves - especially in the Middle East. However, the offer, with a premium of 40% on the average price of the last 60 trading days, was probably sufficient to comply with stock exchange regulations. (aw)
