Egypt’s Carbon Holdings is planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 36 months in order to raise capital for its planned $7bn Tahrir petrochemicals complex.

Speaking at an event in Abu Dhabi, Carbon Holdings’ CEO Basil el-Baz said the company would be floated on the Cairo stock exchange at some point in the next three years.

The Tahrir petrochemicals complex has a total budget of $7bn, including financing charges and owners’ costs. Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts will come in at almost $5bn, according to comments made to MEED in October 2014 by El-Baz.

The complex includes a 1.5 million tonne-a-year (t/y) ethylene cracker and a polyethylene facility with capacity of about 1.4 million t/y.

The project is set to be financed with assistance from four national export credit agencies:

• Export-Import Bank of the US (US Exim);
• Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim);
• Korea Trade Insurance Company (Ksure); and
• Italian Export Credit Agency (SACE).