Egypt's NVO Restructuring Deal Complete

ALEXANDRIA - Feb 13/04 - SNS -- A capital restructuring deal involving Egypt's National Vegetable Oil Company (NVO) was completed this month. The deal is valued at L.E. 600 million or US$97 million.

This follows three and a half years of professional analysis and negotiations on the structure that involved four of the leading private sector banks in the country: Commercial International Bank; Egyptian American Bank; Misr International Bank; and Al Watany Bank Of Egypt, in addition to Commercial International Investment Company and Cargill, an international supplier and processor of grains and oilseeds.

The National Vegetable Oil Company (NVO) was building a soya processing facility in Alexandria when its owner, Mr Gabbani, suddenly died in a plane crash in 2000. The banks and other interested parties worked together to agree to a complete financial restructure, debt capitalization, fresh equity and a new syndicated debt package - all tailored to ensure the successful operation of the company.

The facility, which is due to be completed in the second half of 2004, has a capacity of 1 million metric tons (MT) per annum.

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