Cairo: Egyptian dairy and juice maker Juhayna Food Industries is raising 1 billion Egyptian pounds (Dh649 million) via a capital increase that incorporates the country's first initial public offering (IPO) in two years, it said yesterday.
The company is selling 80 per cent of the shares in a private placement and 20 per cent to the general public.
The private placement, which was expected to close later yesterday, is already oversubscribed, having raised $204 million.
The global financial crisis put a stop to IPOs in Egypt after oil services company Maridive and real estate company Palm Hills Developments sold shares in mid-2008.
Egypt's economy grew by an annual 5.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2010, up from 4.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009.
The public subscription period runs from today to Thursday, June 10, Juhayna's chief executive Safwan Thabet said ahead of a press conference yesterday.
The shares will be sold on the Egyptian stock exchange. Thabet said the price of the new shares will be announced in newspapers today.
The new funds will raise Juhayna's capital to 1.52 billion Egyptian pounds. It will use the funds to invest in its current farms and for new farms, a company statement said.
Juhayna Food Industries makes milk, dairy products and juices, with export markets across Africa and the Middle East. Its clients include McDonald's Corp.
- $204m amount raised by private placement
- 5.8% Egypt's economic growth in first quarter of 2010
