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CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian fintech company MNT-Halan is preparing to list 20% of its shares on the Egyptian stock exchange, potentially making the offering one of the country’s largest recent initial public offerings and putting digital financial services back in focus for regional investors.
MNT-Halan, Egypt’s first fintech company to reach unicorn status, announced the planned listing on October 1. The company said the IPO is expected to take place during October, subject to regulatory approval and market conditions. The offering will include 320 million ordinary shares through a combination of a public offering and a private placement for institutional investors. (reuters.com)
Digital lending remains at the core
Founded in 2018, MNT-Halan has built its business around digital financial services and lending for consumers and small businesses. The company has disbursed approximately 178 billion Egyptian pounds, equivalent to about $6.1 billion, in loans since its launch.
Its gross loan book stood at 46.7 billion Egyptian pounds, while the company reported around 1.9 million active customers. The scale of its lending operation highlights the growing role of fintech platforms in providing financial services to customers who may have limited access to traditional banking products. (reuters.com)
MNT-Halan has also expanded beyond Egypt. The company acquired a bank in Pakistan and a micro-leasing company in Turkey, giving it exposure to additional emerging markets and creating opportunities to expand its financial services platform outside its home market.
IPO puts fintech valuations in focus
The planned listing comes as investors continue to assess the growth potential and valuations of financial technology companies across emerging markets.
For MNT-Halan, the public offering will provide a market based valuation of a business that has expanded rapidly through lending, payments and other financial products. At the same time, investors will need to assess credit quality, loan growth, funding costs and profitability as the company expands its regional operations.
Egypt’s improving capital markets have also created a more supportive environment for companies considering public listings. MNT-Halan’s IPO could therefore provide an important test of investor appetite for emerging market fintech businesses.
The planned listing also follows a period of increasing digital financial adoption across emerging economies, where fintech companies are attempting to close gaps in access to credit and other financial services.
For the regional fintech sector, MNT-Halan’s public-market debut will offer investors a closer look at the economics of digital lending and whether rapidly expanding financial technology platforms can maintain growth while managing credit and funding risks.
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