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Citadel Capital's Green Transport Platform Attracts US$ 21mn of European Investment

The fund controlling Citadel Capital 's Egyptian river transportation investments -- which operates an environmentally friendly network of ports and highly fuel efficient barges in the Arab world's most populous country -- has attracted fresh investment from Germany's DEG and the European Investment Bank .
Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA on the Egyptian Stock Exchange), the leading private equity firm in the Middle East and Africa with US$ 8.7 billion in investments under control, announced today that the German development finance institution DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH) and the European Investment Bank ( EIB ) will jointly invest US$ 21 million in the Opportunity-Specific Fund controlling Citadel Capital 's Egyptian river transport investments.

"This is a valuable step to further strengthen the Egyptian logistics industry by offering alternative domestic freight routes while taking traffic off Egyptian roads," said Christoph Evard, leading DEG's equity team on this transaction. "We are proud to be actively supporting Egypt's economic development in the current times and believe that this should have a positive effect on other private sector investors. Our commitment should send a message that this is a good time to be looking at investments in Egypt."

"The DEG and EIB always make careful investment decisions. We take their decision to invest today as a clear validation of the importance of river transportation -- and specifically our operations, which are leaders in the sector -- to the Egyptian economy at large," said Ahmed Heikal, Chairman and Founder of Citadel Capital , which has investments spanning 14 countries and 15 industries.

"The EIB is very pleased to support Citadel Capital 's innovative investments in Egypt's river transport sector. These investments typify the type of pro-environment, job-creating ventures that we are keen to support. At this unique moment in history, we are ready to quickly and efficiently take action to help Egyptians realize their aspirations," said Claudio Cortese, Deputy Director General of Operations Outside of the EU for the EIB .

DEG has contributed US$ 14 million of the investment, while EIB has invested a further US$ 7 million.

The Fund, Citadel Capital Transport Opportunities II (CCTO II), controls barge operator Nile Cargo and the National River Port Management Company (NRPMC). Both fall under the umbrella of NMT, Citadel Capital 's holding company for investments in Egypt's logistics and river transportation sector. Citadel Capital 's river transport investments in Sudan fall under the Nile Logistics Platform Company, which in turn is a shareholder in CCTO II.

"NMT will use this infusion of equity to rapidly scale-up its operations, building additional barges and procuring new handling equipment for its ports," noted Citadel Capital Managing Director and Co-Founder Hisham El-Khazindar. "To accelerate the build-out of our new fleet, NMT will be commissioning barges at both local and international shipyards going forward."

Nile Cargo has 31 reconditioned 50-meter barges and four custom-designed 100-meter barges (each with a capacity of 1,500 tons) presently in service. The company's goal is to have an additional three pushers and six dumb barges in service by the beginning of 2012 and a further 10-18 pushers and barges by the end of that year.

The latest barge design Nile Cargo is now commissioning has been developed to optimize carrying capacity at current draft levels, thereby increasing operating cost efficiency of its targeted 116-vessel fleet.

The investment, announced after a signing ceremony held today in Cairo, gives DEG and EIB a combined 19% ownership of CCTO II. The balance is held by Nile Logistics (69%) and Banque Misr (12%).

"NMT is already serving the national market for bulk and container goods under long-term contracts to transport strategic goods, including wheat, coke and raw materials for the steel industry. In addition, the company has a number of contracts with private sector to transport cement, marble, calcium carbonate and phosphate rocks, " noted Gen. Maged Farag, Chairman of NMT. "We are delighted to have been the first company to offer container services on the Nile and are confident that the accelerated build-out made possible by DEG and EIB 's investment will only see us extend our market leadership."

-Ends-

Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA on the Egyptian Stock Exchange) is the leading private equity firm in the Middle East and Africa. Citadel Capital focuses on building regional platforms in select industries through acquisitions, turnarounds, and greenfields executed via Opportunity-Specific Funds. The firm's OSFs control 19 Platform Companies with investments worth more than US$ 8.7 billion in 14 countries spanning 15 industries, including mining, cement, transportation, food and energy. Since 2004, Citadel Capital has generated more than US$ 2.2 billion in cash returns to its co-investors and shareholders (on investments of US$ 650 million), more than any other private equity firm in the region. Citadel Capital is the largest private equity firm in Africa by PE assets under management (2006-2011, as ranked by Private Equity International). For more information, please visit www.citadelcapital.com.

DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH), member of KfW Bankengruppe, is one of the largest European development finance institutions. For nearly 50 years, DEG has been financing and structuring the investments of private companies in developing and emerging market countries. DEG invests in profitable projects that contribute to sustainable development in all sectors of the economy, from agribusiness to infrastructure and manufacturing to services. The financial sector is a further focus in order to facilitate reliable access to investment capital locally. DEG's aim is to establish and expand private enterprise structures in developing and emerging countries, and thus create the basis for sustainable economic growth and a lasting improvement in the living conditions of the local population.

The European Investment Bank is the Bank of the European Union and provides long-term finance for capital projects promoting European economic objectives. Its arm dedicated to the Mediterranean region is called FEMIP, Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership. FEMIP's remit is to promote the development of nine countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Israel and Gaza/West Bank. Its two investment priorities are: support for the private sector, the driving force behind sustainable growth, and the creation of an investment-friendly environment by means of efficient infrastructure and appropriate banking systems. FEMIP has established itself as the main financial partner of the Mediterranean region, with more than EUR 10 billion invested since 2002. It also encourages dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean, at the institutional level but also with the representatives of the private sector and civil society.

With the assistance of the EU, EIB invests EU budgetary resources in risk capital operations, including through private equity funds as well as direct equity and quasi-equity investments in the private sector, in the FEMIP region (excluding Israel).

For more information, please contact:
Ms. Ghada Hammouda
Head of Corporate Communications
Citadel Capital (S.A.E.)
Email: ghammouda@citadelcapital.com
Tel: +20 2 2791-4440
Fax: +20 22 791-4448
Mobile: +20 16 662-0002
www.citadelcapital.com

Anne-Cécile Auguin
Press Officer
European Investment Bank
Email: a.auguin@bei.org
Tel: +352 43 79 61 000
www.eib.org

© Press Release 2011