Foreign Ownership & Free Float
ملكية الأجانب والأسهم الحرة
Some EGX-listed companies operate under limits on how much of their shares foreign or strategic investors may hold, while the freely tradable portion is the “free float.” These factors affect a share’s liquidity and its weight in indices like the EGX 30, which is adjusted for free float.
Example
A company in a regulated sector may cap the proportion of its shares that non-Egyptian investors can hold. Once the cap is reached, further foreign buying is constrained regardless of demand.
Why it matters
Caps and closely-held stakes both shrink the freely tradable portion, which feeds directly into liquidity and into a share's weight in a float-adjusted index such as the EGX 30.
A common mistake
Assuming a large company is easy to trade. Ownership restrictions and concentrated holdings can leave a small effective float, so size and tradability are separate questions.