VZCZCXYZ0006
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #6022 2681637
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251637Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1626
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0206

UNCLAS CAIRO 006022 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, EB/IDF/OMA 
USAID FOR ANE/MEA MCCLOUD AND DUNN 
USTR FOR SAUMS 
TREASURY FOR NUGENT AND HIRSON 
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/ANESA/TALAAT 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID EFIN EINV EG
SUBJECT: BANK OF ALEXANDRIA:  BIDS DELAYED UNTIL OCTOBER 7 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet distribution. 
 
REF:  Cairo 5001 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Egyptian press reported on September 24 that the deadline 
for submission of offers from the six short-listed bidders for Bank 
of Alexandria had been delayed from September 28 to October 7. 
During a meeting that same day, Minister of Investment Mohieldin 
told the Ambassador that the deadline was pushed back because 
Citigroup, the advisor for the sale, had not completed the due 
diligence report for submission to the six short-listed bidders. 
Mohieldin said Citigroup submitted the report to the GOE that day, 
and that it would be sent to the bidders immediately.  The bidders 
had until October 7 to complete their bid packages.  The Ambassador 
pointed out that the delay might be taken by some observers as the 
GOE dragging its feet on the sale.  Mohieldin acknowledged that the 
BOA sale process has taken longer than expected, but said that he 
has always given the end of 2006 as the final deadline, as delays 
are to be expected in a privatization of this size. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On September 25, Central Bank sub-Governor Tarek Kandil 
repeated the same explanation to econoff, and said that the bids 
would be opened and a winner announced on October 16.  Kandil was 
dismissive of concerns about the negative optics of the delay.  He 
noted that it was normal for investors considering a large 
acquisition to ask for more time to analyze the due diligence report 
and formulate a winning bid package.  Kandil said that he would 
represent CBE on the committee reviewing the bids, along with 
representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Central 
Auditing Agency.  He said the main goal of the committee was to 
ensure transparency in the process, with no possibility for any of 
the bidders to claim that time pressures prevented them from fully 
developing their bid packages. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Comment:  All of our GOE interlocutors have been 
dismissive of our concerns about the negative optics of yet another 
delay, claiming that the sale of BOA is an irreversible process that 
was just "a matter of time."  Despite these reassurances, post 
continues to press the GOE to avoid more delays and complete the 
privatization as soon as possible, noting the large amount of 
assistance funds contingent on final sale of the bank. 
RICCIARDONE