Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging and frontier investment bank, announced today that it has acted as the exclusive sell-side advisor to SPE Capital (“SPE”), formerly Swicorp Private Equity, Orchidia Pharmaceutical Industries (“Orchidia”), and Dr. Ossama Abbas, the founder, majority shareholder and Chairman of Orchidia, with respect to the sale of a significant minority stake to the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund (“EAEF”). Orchidia is a leading Egyptian ophthalmic generic medicine manufacturer and one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in Egypt.

The transaction, which closed today following satisfaction of customary closing conditions, consists of a capital increase that will be subscribed to by EAEF and Dr. Ossama Abbass, in addition to EAEF acquiring the stakes owned by SPE Capital and other minority shareholders. The proceeds of the capital increase will be used to enhance the capital base of the Company and finance its expansion plans. 

Amr Sultan, Executive Director at Arqaam Capital commented: “We are delighted to have worked alongside the shareholders of Orchidia in closing this transaction and to have helped SPE achieve impressive returns of three times the amount invested in 2013 in USD terms. This transaction marks yet another milestone in solidifying Arqaam Capital’s presence in Egypt and further demonstrates the firm’s M&A capabilities.”

Dr. Ossama Abbas commented: “The previous couple of years have been really challenging for the pharmaceutical industry in Egypt. However, the Orchidia team was able to capitalize on this opportunity by consistently working hard and focusing on delivering high quality affordable medicine to the market in addition to opening up key export markets. We are proud of our achievements and are looking forward to our next phase of growth in the local and export markets with the support of our new partners.”

David Rey, Managing Director at Swicorp said: “When we invested in Orchidia back in January 2013, Egypt was just emerging from its revolution, with all the uncertainties that this entailed. Not many investors were around at that time. We’ve selectively chosen the pharma sector for its defensive nature, designed a structure to mitigate risks when possible, and partnered with a businessman culturing the highest standards of ethics, skills and leadership. We’ve seen a lot since then: a regime change, regulatory adjustments, a major devaluation and significant pricing changes across the industry. The company navigated steadily through all these challenges and I like to think that the strength and quality of our partnership was key in supporting the company and its management to successfully do so.”

Commenting on the exit, Mehdi Charfi, Partner at SPE said: “We are proud to leave the company in a totally different place from the time we invested in it: strengthened brand and image, significantly higher market share, a fast-growing export business and stronger governance. This is a testament to the resilience and attractiveness of the Egyptian market where we see number of attractive opportunities and where we continue to actively prospect.”

About Arqaam Capital

In less than a decade, Arqaam Capital has grown into a well-established investment bank operating out of three hubs, namely the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Cairo and Johannesburg. Arqaam Capital operates across four business segments: sales & trading, investment banking, asset management and alternative investments. Its core business value proposition is to act as an efficient intermediary between capital and investment opportunities in frontier and emerging markets, bringing first class advisory and execution capabilities to local, regional, and international institutional clients.

About Orchidia Pharmaceutical Industries

Orchidia was established in 1993 initially as a local agent providing marketing and distribution of eye care and general medicine products for numerous multinational pharmaceutical companies up until 2002. Orchidia eventually expanded into local manufacturing with the goal of producing affordable quality eye care products. OPI commenced operations of its own production facility 2009 and became a pioneer in the Blow-Fill Seal technology in Egypt.

Today, Orchidia is the 2nd largest player and the largest local manufacturer of Ophthalmology products in Egypt. Orchidia has over 98 eye care products currently registered or under the registration process.

About SPE Capital

SPE Capital is a private equity firm formed in 2016 from a spinout from Swicorp, a leading regional investment banking firm. The SPE Capital team has invested over USD 1 billion since 2005, across Africa and the Middle East.

SPE Capital is led by an experienced investment team, with a combined experience of more than 60 years investing in growth companies and an objective to achieve superior investment returns for investors.

For more information, please contact:
Media Relations
Arqaam Capital
Tel: +971 4 507 1700
Email: media@arqaamcapital.com

© Press Release 2017