Egypt's MNT-Halan is set to begin trading on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Tuesday, 20 October, after its initial public offering drew far more demand than shares on offer. The MNT-Halan IPO attracted retail orders 43.6 times the size of the tranche set aside for individual investors, according to Arab Finance via Zawya, while the private placement for institutions was 11.2 times covered.
The listing is one of the largest by an African fintech on a home exchange, and a test of whether local markets can give venture-backed companies a route to public investors without going to New York or London.
MNT-Halan IPO by the numbers
The offering is a secondary sale. The seller, MNT Investments B.V., is offering 320 million existing ordinary shares, equal to 20% of the company's issued capital. The company itself is not raising new money from the sale.
- Price: EGP 24.50 per share for both tranches.
- Offer value: about EGP 7.84 billion, according to Zawya. Ecofin Agency put the launch value at $149.7 million and called it Egypt's biggest listing since 2021.
- Institutional tranche: 272 million shares, 11.2 times oversubscribed, or 19.4 times excluding cornerstone investors, according to African Markets.
- Retail tranche: 48 million shares, or 15% of the offering and 3% of share capital. Orders reached about 2.093 billion shares on the sixth and final day.
- Ticker: HALN.
At 43.6 times demand, retail investors will receive only a small fraction of what they asked for. Zawya's figures imply that roughly 2.29% of requested shares can be filled.
More than 300 institutional investors from over 10 countries placed orders, including buyers from Egypt, several Gulf states, the UK, France, Switzerland and South Africa. Citigroup Global Markets and EFG Hermes acted as joint global coordinators and bookrunners.
What investors are buying
MNT-Halan started as a lending and payments business and now offers digital loans, payments and other financial services. Figures reported by Dabafinance give a sense of its scale:
- About 1.9 million active users at the end of June 2026.
- A gross loan book of EGP 46.7 billion at the end of June.
- EGP 178 billion disbursed in loans since launch, which the company said was roughly $6.1 billion at historical exchange rates.
- A group valuation of $1.4 billion after a funding round in June.
- Operations outside Egypt in Turkey, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Note that the shares on sale are in the Egyptian business, listed through MNT Tech Holding for Financial Investments, not the whole international group.
A shaky market for a debut
MNT-Halan arrives on a market under pressure. On Sunday, 18 October, the EGX30 index fell 2.63% to 50,896.19, its lowest close since 1 July, according to The Middle East Observer. Foreign investors were net sellers of EGP 5.562 billion that day, while Egyptian and Arab investors were net buyers.
The same report made a useful point about oversubscription. Large order books do not mean that much new cash is entering the market, because investors often inflate orders when they expect to be scaled back. The first days of trading will show how much real demand exists at EGP 24.50.
The calendar is crowded too. Banque du Caire opened its own IPO books on 19 October, offering 30% of its capital, which could rise to 45%, at an indicative EGP 4.82 to EGP 5.30 per share. Large state-linked offers can pull money away from newer listings.
Why this matters for African tech
Exits have been a sore point for African startups and their investors. Most returns have come from acquisitions, and very few companies have listed at home. A strong first week for HALN would give founders and venture funds in Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya a reference point for local listings.
Three things to watch after the debut:
- Opening price against EGP 24.50: a large first-day gain would suggest the offer was priced cautiously.
- Trading volume: retail investors who received small allocations may buy more in the market, adding early support.
- Foreign flows: continued foreign selling on the EGX could weigh on all new listings, regardless of company results.
Founder and chief executive Mounir Nakhla confirmed the 20 October start date. For more on how African fintechs are moving from payments into lending and banking, read our analysis of Paystack six years after Stripe.
