Share Holding Structure
Soma Bay Development Company, S.A.E. (SBDC), the Master Developer of Soma Bay, established in 1991, has an authorized capital of LE 500 million. The principal shareholders of the company include:
The Egyptian Finance Company (EFC) Group is a leading investment and financial institution, active in Egypt since 1979. Among the projects to which EFC has contributed as founding shareholder are: Xerox Egypt, Industrie Du Froid, Johnson & Johnson Egypt, Nestle Egypt, EMB Electrical Industries (Ticino) part of the French Legrand Group), Lecico Egypt, Carrier Egypt, ETMA (The Four Corners) and Egyptian Investment Company (EIC).
The Egyptian Investment Company (EIC) is an investment company focusing on the Egyptian tourism sector. EIC was established in 1993 by EFC together with a consortium of international banking and multi-national financial institutions.
Hana Investment Company is part of the Olayan Group, a leading private sector business entity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has a small beneficial interest in SBDC, included under the "Others" caption in the Share Holding Structure table on the left.
Dr. Farid W. Saad has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company since its establishment in 1991. He is also Chairman of Egyptian Finance Company and Egyptian Investment Company in addition to being a member of the board of a number of other companies in Egypt. Dr. Saad was previously Managing Director and Vice Chairman of Egyptian American Bank from its original establishment in 1976 to 1985. He was also founder and director of American Express Middle East Development Company. Dr. Saad holds a Ph.D. in Finance and a B.Sc. in Engineering, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ambassador Abdel Raouf El-Reedy had a long and distinguished career in Egypt’s diplomatic service, culminating in his appointment to the post of Egyptian Ambassador in Washington covering the period from 1984 to 1992. At present, Ambassador El-Reedy practices law and is an advisor to the Company. He also serves, on a voluntary basis, as Chairman of the Board of the Moubarak Public Library and as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of New Damietta, a new and vibrant community in Egypt.
Mr. Jonathan Franklin is Senior Vice President and Head of Investments for Olayan Financing Company, the Saudi holding company of the Olayan Group, based in Riyadh. Prior to joining Olayan, Mr. Franklin spent four years as a partner with Ernst & Young in London where he led the mergers and acquisitions practice for the UK and Europe, five years at Chase Manhattan Bank in London where he was managing director of the oil and gas investment banking activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and seventeen years with JP Morgan in New York, the last ten of which were spent in the mergers and acquisitions department where Mr. Franklin focused on advising clients on cross-border transactions in the energy sector. Mr. Franklin graduated from Cambridge University in 1979 with a double first class degree in history.
Mr. Noman Hakim is a senior executive and Financial Controller at Soma Bay Development Company. He graduated in 1970 from the Faculty of Egineering Cairo University and holds a Master degree in Business Administration.
Ms. Nevine Y. Bebawi is the wife of Dr. Farid Saad and is active in the supervision of a number of operating entities at Soma Bay.
Status of Project Construction and Financing
During 1996 to 1999, SBDC completed construction and successfully initiated operation of the various facilities envisaged in Phase I of its Soma Bay master plan. It is currently in the process of completing Phase II.
The Phase I facilities which are currently operating successfully include the following elements:
- A central utilities plant generating electricity and potable water covering the foreseeable needs of the Soma Bay community, together with an extensive underground utilities distribution network.
- Two 300+ room hotels with successful operating track records, generating among the highest operating revenues on the Red Sea.
- An 18-hole golf course of international standing.
- A central marina serving the Soma Bay community.
Phase II consists of the completion of a 340 room bay luxury hotel , The Cascades Golf Resort and Thalasso Center (operated in association with Les Thermes Marins de St. Malo), The Breakers at Soma Bay - Diving and Surfing Lodge, the Soma Bay Marina Center, and a nine hole golf academy, in addition to a number of resort housing units.
The infrastructure facilities undertaken by SBDC in Phase I were financed in part through a US$ 60 million loan funded by the World Bank.
The European Investment Bank and International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) have both also contributed finance in support of the project. The balance of the project’s funding has come from SBDC’s capital resources in addition to local bank debt that has been utilized to finance the various hotels currently operating or under construction.
Each of the hotels at Soma Bay are owned by separate hotel owning companies which are legally independent of SBDC, although SBDC owns a significant proportion of their share capital together with other third party investors.
SBDC’s Legal Structure
The Company’s legal status as approved by Egypt’s Investment Authority entitles the company, among others, to develop and sell land to individual resort homeowners on a freehold basis.
Secondary resort home owners thus acquire ownership of each unit which can in-turn be sold at a later date, free of any capital gains taxes, and with the proceeds of sale being freely convertible into the owner’s currency of choice. There are no real estate property or inheritance taxes in Egypt.
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