Abraaj, the Dubai-based private equity firm, said yesterday it has upped for the third time its offer price for Bisco Misr, the biggest publicly traded Egyptian maker of cakes and biscuits, trumping a bid by Kellog, the world’s biggest breakfast cereal maker.
Abraaj said it had raised its offer price for Bisco Misr to 88.09 Egyptian pounds (Dh45.2) per share, amounting to a total purchase price of 1.03 billion Egyptian pounds, 2 per cent higher than Kellog’s offer price of 86.36 pounds per share.
It has applied to the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority to amend its tender offer for Bisco Misr, the firm said in the statement.
Abraaj and Kellog have been engaged in a bidding war over Bisco since November, when the private equity firm made a tender offer at an initial price of 73.91 Egyptian pounds per share.
“The group’s strategy is to maximise Bisco Misr’s value by raising its local market share, expanding its business regionally, and increasing the company’s production capacity,” Abraaj said in a statement.
“Abraaj is keen to continue investing in Egypt given the country’s broad attractive market, remarkable growth potential, and the positive developments it has recently witnessed.”
Abraaj, which has around US$7.5bn in assets, has invested an estimated $1bn in Egypt through its funds and expects to double this figure in the future, the statement added.
Firms are returning to invest in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous nation exceeding 85 million, as the government implements a raft of measures to attract foreign investors who left after the onset of the revolution in 2011.
Abraaj this month sold its stake in Moulin d’Or, a leading producer of baked goods in Tunisia.
It also bought this month a stake in Algeria’s biggest logistics firm, La Flèche Bleue Algérienne (FBA), its first investment in the North African country.
It also sold a 21 per cent stake in the Egyptian private sector health care firm Integrated Diagnostics Holdings to the London-based private equity firm Actis.
Abraaj owns stakes in other high-profile companies, including Egypt’s Orascom Construction, the Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia and the supermarket chain Spinneys.
dalsaadi@thenational.ae
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Cricket World Cup League Two
Teams
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
Fixtures
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Oman
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Company profile
Company: Zywa
Started: 2021
Founders: Nuha Hashem and Alok Kumar
Based: UAE
Industry: FinTech
Funding size: $3m
Company valuation: $30m
SPEC SHEET: NOTHING PHONE (2A)
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Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 7,200 Pro, 4nm, octa-core
Memory: 8/12GB
Capacity: 128/256GB
Platform: Android 14, Nothing OS 2.5
Main camera: Dual 50MP main, f/1.88 + 50MP ultra-wide, f/2.2; OIS, EIS, auto-focus, ultra XDR, night mode
Main camera video: 4K @ 30fps, full-HD @ 60fps; slo-mo full-HD at 120fps
Front camera: 32MP wide, f/2.2
Battery: 5,000mAh; 50% in 30 minutes with 45-watt charger
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC (Google Pay)
Biometrics: Fingerprint, face unlock
I/O: USB-C
Durability: IP54, limited protection from water/dust
Cards: Dual-nano SIM
Colours: Black, milk, white
In the box: Nothing Phone (2a), USB-C-to-USB-C cable, pre-applied screen protector, Sim tray ejector tool
Price (UAE): Dh1,199 (8GB/128GB) / Dh1,399 (12GB/256GB)
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a+£60,000 watch.
- James+‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester City 2
Huddersfield: Otamendi (45'+1 og), van La Parra (red card 90'+6)
Man City: Agüero (47' pen), Sterling (84')
Man of the match: Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town)
Arabian Gulf Cup FINAL
Al Nasr 2
(Negredo 1, Tozo 50)
Shabab Al Ahli 1
(Jaber 13)