Orascom Development Egypt (ODE), the largest subsidiary of Orascom Development Holding in Egypt, has sold its 51% equity stake in Oberoi Zahra, a luxury Nile cruise, to a private Egyptian investor for USD 4 mn, Invest-Gate reports.

Accordingly, ODE will receive USD 2 mn in cash proceeds from the sale that will be directed towards the firm expansion plans, it said in a bourse filing on July 8.

According to the statement, the sale comes in line with the firm’s strategy with the disposal of non-core assets, improving its balance sheet, and concentrating efforts on its core business of town development. 

In June, ODE announced selling its entire stake in Tamweel Group, representing 87% of the company, to a consortium led by Ebtikar for Financial Investment, at a total value of CHF 20 mn (nearly EGP 360 mn), according to a previous statement. 

“The share transfer has been executed after obtaining all necessary approvals and ODE will now start receiving the [EGP 313 mn] cash proceeds,” the real estate developer said in an official statement on June 17, revealing that the transaction was carried out in Ebtikar-led consortia with TCV1 and Acquire for Investment.  

Meanwhile, on June 12, ODE signed a debt rescheduling package, worth about EGP 3.82 bn, a step coming to boost the company’s balance sheet and generate more flexibility in growing its projects, it announced in a previous release, emphasizing that the company’s lenders agreed to decrease the interest rate margin on the foreign currency debt by 100 basis points – or 1%.