EFG Hermes, the Middle East and Africa’s financial services heavyweight, has announced that it has completed the merger of its equity brokerage subsidiary with Intermarket Securities, a local firm. The handover, effective November 25, 2024, marks the a new phase in the firm’s seven-year tenure in Pakistan’s financial ecosystem.
The Egyptian investment bank first stepped into Pakistan in 2017 with ambitions to tap into the country’s long-term growth potential. Its entry was heralded as a milestone, being the first foreign investment bank to establish a direct presence in Pakistan since 2008.
The merger marks a new chapter of a seven-year run in Pakistan, which began with the disappointment of the almost immediate disproving of its investment thesis: that Pakistan being upgraded to Emerging Market status by MSCI, the global equity markets index provider, would result in an immediate surge in trading volumes on the Pakistani market and therefore in revenues for brokerage firms in Pakistan.
While Pakistan did re-enter the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in June 2017, just a few days after EFG Hermes closed on the transaction to buy Invest and Finance Securities Ltd. (IFSL) in May 2017, that change in status did not have any material impact on trading volumes on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
This acquisition positioned the bank as a key player offering securities brokerage, research services, and investment banking advisory to local and international investors. The content in this publication is expensive to produce. But unlike other journalistic outfits, business publications have to cover the very organizations that directly give them advertisements. Hence, this large source of revenue, which is the lifeblood of other media houses, is severely compromised on account of Profit’s no-compromise policy when it comes to our reporting. No wonder, Profit has lost multiple ad deals, worth tens of millions of rupees, due to stories that held big businesses to account. Hence, for our work to continue unfettered, it must be supported by discerning readers who know the value of quality business journalism, not just for the economy but for the society as a whole.To read the full article, subscribe and support independent business journalism in Pakistan
