EFG-Hermes Holding Company - History

History

EFG, also known as the Egyptian Financial Group, became the first investment banking firm in Egypt when it was established 1984. Hermes was founded in 1993 under the newly promulgated Capital Markets Law 95. EFG created and analyzed privatization plans for the Egyptian government for several years. In 1993, The Egyptian Financial Group and Hermes independently made a move into securities brokerage. The two companies competed and both companies brought many investment strategies that were common to the west to Egypt as several of the two firm's founders had Wall Street experience in corporate finance, sales & trading and asset management;, for example Hermes established the first equity index in all of Egypt.

In 1994, both Egyptian Financial Group and Hermes entered into asset management. Fueled by organic growth; the two firms also accounted for lead managing a majority of the privatization capital markets IPO's during 1995 and 1996. The two companies soon reached the point that further growth was not possible without a wider network of local and international clients on one hand, as well as the rising competitive threat of international investment banks in the progressively more active Egyptian market in terms of investment baking privatization transactions as well as higher trading volumes . These factors led to a merger in 1996 between EFG and Hermes.