An Egyptian court has postponed to June 21 a hearing over a state land sale to Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG), the country’s biggest listed developer, in a case that has rattled investors in the property sector.
TMG’s $3 bn Madinaty project, which makes up the bulk of its land bank, has been caught in the legal dispute since September, when a court upheld a ruling to scrap the land sale contract as it was not publicly auctioned.
The cabinet returned the land to TMG late last year, arguing it was in the national interest, but the fate of the contract has been unclear since a popular uprising swept out president Hosni Mubarak and his government on February 11.
A judicial panel is expected to submit its recommendation on the case ahead of the court session next month.
A series of other court rulings have followed in the wake of the TMG case, gathering pace after Mr Mubarak was pushed out. Palm Hills, the country’s second- biggest listed developer, and Egyptian Resorts have already lost land.
Egyptian Resorts’ main 41- million square metre Sahl Hasheesh resort is under threat, as the firm faces a legal challenge on its purchase of that land. The Egyptian Resorts court session was also postponed, to July 2.
The Egyptian tourism development authority retracted its approval for selling land allocated for the project, a decision the firm said it would contest.
The cases hinge on conflicting laws governing state land deals. The original court ruling said a housing ministry body sold land to TMG in violation of a 1998 law. The government said it was following legislation preced ing that law.
Reuters