Kellogg’s increases Bisco Misr bid to $11.50 per share

Breakfast cereal maker Kellogg’s has increased its bid for Egyptian cake and biscuit maker Bisco Misr to EGP82.2 ($11.50) per share, in an increasingly intensifying bidding war with Dubai-based competitor Abraaj.

The increase from its previous EGP79 ($11.05) bid comes after a bidding war with Dubai-based competitor Abraaj.

After an initial offer of 73.91 Egyptian pounds ($10.33), Abraaj had increased its bid to 79.10 Egyptian pounds ($11.06) per share last week.

The bidding frenzy formed part of a number of mergers and rights issues, which have boosted activity on the Cairo bourse.

The exchange has struggled to revive investor confidence during the economic and political turmoil that followed the uprisings in 2011.

The Egypt Government has been implementing a series of long-delayed reforms to bring back foreign investors and to shore up growth while cutting a ballooning deficit.

Food is considered to be a fast-growing sector in the most populous Arab nation, which has a population of about 86 million people.

Bisco Misr is a well-known brand in the country and comprises three baking facilities in Cairo and Alexandria.

Established in 1957 during the country’s nationalisation programme, Bisco Misr was then said to be the country’s primary provider of baked goods and confectionary.

The Abraaj Group, founded in 2002, is a private equity investor with operations in the markets of Asia, MENA, Turkey, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

The company currently has about $7.5bn of assets under management, with more than 25 offices across six regional hubs in Istanbul, Mexico City, Mumbai, Dubai, Nairobi and Singapore.