The Saudi Arabian dairy company Almarai will invest Dh1.3 billion over the next five years in Egypt through its subsidiary International Company for Agricultural Industries, owned jointly with PepsiCo.
The investment is seen as a vote of confidence in the country under the new president Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
The plan for International Company for Agricultural Industries, which trades as Beyti, includes setting up a new juice factory, expanding existing facilities, increasing the company’s fleet of vehicles and sales network, and creating a new dairy farm for 5,000 cows, Beyti’s chief executive Mohamed Badran told Reuters at a news conference in Cairo.
Almarai’s chief executive Abdulrahman Al Fadley said he hoped to raise the investment to about US$560 million over five years. The additional money would be spent on another dairy farm, which Mr Badran said would be the biggest in Egypt, accommodating 20,000 cows.
The announcement came two days after a short meeting between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and Mr El Sisi in Cairo.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have collectively pledged billions of dollars in aid to Egypt since the removal of the former president Mohammed Morsi by the army in July 2013.
Beyti is owned by International Dairy & Juice (IDJ), a joint venture between Almarai, which owns 52 per cent of shares, and PepsiCo, which owns the remaining 48 per cent.
Almarai said that IDJ’s investment in Beyti would be funded by an equity injection from both shareholders, and via Beyti’s financial debt. Almarai’s portion of the investment will be funded via cashflow, it said.
Beyti, founded in 2005, was acquired by IDJ in December 2009 for an undisclosed sum.
IDJ was formed in 2009 to focus on expansion opportunities in South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East, excluding the GCC.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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