Egypt's Beltone and Pioneers to form the largest Middle East investment bank

Pioneers Holding agreed to buy rival Egyptian securities firm Beltone Financial in a share swap, gaining asset-management expertise as it aims to create the Middle East’s biggest investment bank - Bloomberg is reporting.

Pioneers said it will issue 100 million shares to Beltone’s owners, who will have about 17 percent of the companies’ combined capital. The premium for those new shares hasn’t yet been determined, Beltone said. In terms of the operations, both companies will be managed independently.

Their full press release follows: