EFG Finance Holding has sold 53.8m shares in the Egyptian fintech company, marking one of the first significant secondary transactions since ValU’s unconventional listing last year.
Less than a year after ValU became the first consumer finance company to list on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) without a traditional IPO, a major shareholder has reduced its position in a secondary sale executed through an accelerated bookbuild (ABB).
EFG Hermes, the investment banking arm of EFG Holding, has completed the placement of 53.8 million shares in U Consumer Finance (ticker: VALU), the parent company of the ValU brand. The transaction represents approximately 2.55% of ValU’s total share capital and was structured as a secondary sale, meaning the proceeds went to the selling shareholder rather than to the company itself.
EFG Hermes acted as financial advisor and sole bookrunner on the deal. In a statement, the bank said the transaction was executed within an accelerated timeframe and that its integrated sales platform helped maintain orderly market performance throughout the process.
The sale comes as Egypt’s capital markets have shown signs of renewed activity following a period of muted equity capital markets (ECM) transactions, which EFG Hermes attributed to “elevated geopolitical risk” in the preceding month.
Who is selling?
The identity of the selling shareholder has not been publicly disclosed by EFG Hermes. However, regulatory filings from ValU’s June 2025 listing show that EFG Finance Holding, a subsidiary of EFG Holding, retained a 67% stake in ValU following the company’s debut on the exchange.
EFG Holding had previously distributed 20.488% of ValU’s share capital to its own shareholders via an in-kind dividend in June 2025, a mechanism that bypassed the conventional IPO fundraising process. Amazon also acquired a 3.95% direct stake in ValU at the time of listing, exercising an option agreement dating back to 2022.
The remaining 67% held by EFG Finance Holding has been the primary source of potential secondary liquidity in ValU shares. The latest 2.55% sale may have reduced that position incrementally while leaving the parent group with a substantial majority.
EFG Hermes has not commented on the specific seller’s identity. Neither the transaction’s pricing nor the total value raised was disclosed in the bank’s announcement.
A fintech built on consumer credit
ValU was founded in 2017 and has since grown from a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) operator into a broader consumer finance platform offering personal loans, salary advances, prepaid cards and embedded finance solutions.
By the end of 2025, the company had processed 8.7m transactions during the year, with gross merchandise value of EGP 24.51bn and loan issuances of EGP 20.89bn, according to an investor presentation. Net income for the period reached EGP 764m, with a reported 23% share of Egypt’s consumer finance market as of December 2025.
The company has also shown progress in shifting from episodic lending to higher-frequency daily spending. In the first nine months of 2025, gross revenue rose 84% year-on-year to EGP 4.03bn, while net income increased 139% to EGP 541m. Average transactions per user jumped from 7.9 to 13.6 over the same period.
ValU’s non-performing loan ratio stood at 0.92%, a relatively low level for a consumer lender operating in an emerging market, according to the company’s disclosures.
Unconventional path to the public market
ValU’s debut on the EGX in June 2025 was unusual by global standards. Instead of raising new capital through a traditional IPO, EFG Holding distributed ValU shares directly to its existing shareholders as a dividend.
EFG Holding shareholders received one ValU share for every 3.3 EFG Holding shares held, with the transaction funded by EGP 335.5m ($6.76m) from EFG Holding’s distributable retained earnings. This resulted in EFG Holding shareholders receiving roughly 20.5% of ValU’s share capital, while EFG Finance Holding retained a 67% stake.
On its first day of trading, ValU’s share price surged 852.4% from its opening price of EGP 0.78 to close at EGP 7.40, hitting the maximum price ceiling allowed for first-day trading on the EGX.
As of March 2026, ValU’s market capitalisation stood at approximately EGP 22.14bn ($1.17bn), up 42% from its listing value in June 2025. The stock traded at EGP 10.17 as of mid-March, with analysts’ average target price at EGP 10.27.
Secondary placements test market depth
The accelerated bookbuild mechanism allows a block of shares to be placed with institutional investors within a condensed timeframe, typically one to two days. It has become a common tool for secondary sales in markets where traditional follow-on offerings may be slower or more costly to execute.
For existing shareholders, a successful ABB provides a way to realise liquidity without triggering the price volatility that can accompany a large block sale conducted through open-market trading. For the market, it offers a test of institutional demand for a given stock after the initial post-listing momentum has subsided.
EFG Hermes characterised the transaction as evidence of “the Egyptian Exchange’s resilience and the continued attractiveness of Egyptian capital markets.” Maged El Ayouti, co-head of investment banking at EFG Hermes, said the deal “exemplifies our broader efforts to deepen and grow access to liquidity in the region’s capital markets.”
The bank noted that the transaction stood “among a series of offerings that have reignited investor appetite for equities” following a slowdown in ECM activity during the previous month.
EFG Hermes’ deal pipeline
The ValU secondary sale adds to a broader track record for EFG Hermes, which has been active across equity capital markets, debt capital markets and M&A in the region.
During 2025, the bank advised on 18 ECM transactions, 16 DCM transactions and eight M&A deals across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Egypt, according to its disclosure.
The bank has also been involved in other secondary transactions. In February 2026, EFG Hermes advised on the IPO of Gourmet Egypt, which was structured as a secondary sale of up to 47.6% of the company’s share capital by existing shareholders. Earlier in March, it acted on a secondary offering of up to 10% of National Printing Company’s shares.
What’s next for ValU?
For ValU, the secondary sale does not affect its operational position or capital structure, as no new shares were issued and the company did not receive any proceeds.
The company has previously signalled that it does not require immediate capital for its existing operations. Walid Hassouna, CEO of ValU, told Zawya in July 2025 that the company was “capital sufficient, with a book value of nearly EGP 2bn,” and that the primary objective of the listing was “to have a balanced and diverse capital structure” rather than to raise funds.
ValU has secured initial approval from the Central Bank of Jordan to launch in the kingdom, with plans to expand further into North African markets after establishing a presence there. Those expansion plans may require additional funding in the future, which Hassouna said could be raised as either equity or debt depending on market conditions.
EFG Finance Holding retains a 67% stake in ValU following the latest sale. The holding company may choose to execute further secondary placements in the future as part of a gradual reduction of its position, though no such transactions have been announced.