Egyptian financier wins race to buy Arab Dairy

Egyptian financial services firm Pioneers Holding has won the race to buy Egypt’s Arab Dairy for €30m, beating a rival offer from Al Nour, the market regulator said.

The battle for control of the Egyptian cheese maker is part of a flurry of activity on the Cairo bourse, which has struggled to revive investor confidence in the turmoil after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

Pioneers’ bid of €8.35 per share came in above the €8.32 per share offered by Al-Nour for Dairy Industries. Al-Nour is a subsidiary of Europe’s biggest dairy group, Lactalis. Pioneers CEO Walid Zaky said that the acquisition was part of his company’s efforts to expand in the food sector, a fast-growing industry in the most populous Arab nation of 87m people. Pioneers, which already owns 25% of Arab Dairy, is set to start buying up the shares it does not own later this week.