OCI to Sell US$ 300 million in to Local Market

CAIRO, EGYPT--(Marketwire - Dec 19, 2011) -

OCI to Sell Approximately US$ 300 million in to Local Market to Repay EGP 1.65 billion Bond as Part of its Refinancing Package

Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) announced today that it intends to sell approximately US$ 300 million of currency in to the local Egyptian market to repay its outstanding EGP 1.65 billion local bond. The repayment of the local bond is required as part of a debt refinancing package for OCI's wholly owned Fertilizer Subsidiaries announced on 4 October 2011.

The Fertilizer Subsidiaries secured Credit Facilities totaling approximately US$ 1.9 billion with international, regional and local relationship banks in addition to US$ 200 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

OCI Chief Executive Officer, Nassef Sawiris, commented, "this transaction clearly demonstrates that tapping international debt markets serves the interests of our shareholders and creates added liquidity in the domestic financial sector. By raising off-shore debt and settling local debt, our balance sheet will benefit from interest expense savings related to the large interest differential between the Egyptian Pound and the US Dollar. In addition, we are providing US$ 300 million in Dollar liquidity to the local market."

In November, OCI repaid US$ 700 million of local debt as part of the company's refinancing strategy.

About Orascom Construction Industries

OCI is one of Egypt's largest corporations with projects and investments across Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, North Africa, and Asia. The company directly employs more than 84,000 people and generated US$ 4.9 billion in revenues and US$ 1.1 billion in EBITDA in 2010. OCI currently has two core business activities. The OCI Fertilizer Group is a strategic owner and operator of nitrogen fertilizer plants in Egypt, the Netherlands, the United States, and Algeria with an international distribution platform spanning Latin America, the United States, Europe and Africa. These operations will exceed 7.0 million metric tons of capacity in 2012, positioning OCI among the top global nitrogen-based fertilizer producers. The OCI Construction Group is a leading construction contractor active in emerging markets. It primarily focuses on infrastructure projects in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in addition to industrial and high-end commercial projects.

For additional information contact:

OCI Investor Relations Department:

Omar Darwazah
Email:  omar.darwazah@orascomci.com 

Erika Wakid
Email:  erika.wakid@orascomci.com 

Hassan Badrawi
Director

Tel: +202 2461 1036/0727/0917
Fax: +202 2461 9409

For additional information on OCI:

 www.orascomci.com 

OCI stock symbols: OCIC.CA / OCIC EY / OCICqL / ORSD / ORSCY

Orascom Construction Industries (OCI)
Nile City Towers - South Tower
2005A Corniche El Nil
Cairo, Egypt

                    This information is provided by RNS
          The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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