Arab World’s First Football Team to Go Public Seeks $8.6 Million

An Egyptian soccer club is seeking to raise as much as 135 million Egyptian pounds ($8.6 million) from an initial public offering on the country’s stock exchange, a first of its kind for the Arab world.

Ghazl El Mahalla Sporting Club completed a private placement of 37 million pounds ahead of its IPO, according to a statement from the Public Enterprise Ministry. It will issue a prospectus for its 98 million pounds public offering “soon,” it said.