Moroccan insurance companies make public offerings

Two of the major insurance companies said they are joining Casablanca's stock market at the beginning of the coming month as a first step in the Moroccan insurance sector for developing corporate savings and solidarity funds.

El-Wafa insurance company, affiliated to El-Wafa banking group, offered since yesterday 787,500 shares at a cost of $50 each (nearly 25.5% of its capital) for subscription to the public.

The company expects the subscription value to reach 355 million dirham during this process, which aims at attracting small investors to the insurance sector.

Meanwhile, Morocco's El-Hayat company also started procedures to join the Casablanca stock market, an initiative which is expected to be officially completed tomorrow.

The company presented last month 20% of its capital for subscription at a price of 594 dirhams ($62) per share. The process which ended on June 30 included 60,000 shares, among which 30,000 were specified for expatriate Moroccans.