UK private-equity firm Actis has acquired a 30% stake in Egypt-based snack food group Edita Food Industries.
Actis has spent US$102m on the stake in what it called the “largest independent snack business in north Africa”. Edita sells croissants, wafers and cakes across north Africa and the Middle East.
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The private-equity firm said: “Snack food epitomises Actis’s consumer investment thesis: a popular, high-growth sector that sits at the heart of the entry-level consumer’s quest for quality.”
Edita, for instance, owns the Twinkies, HoHos and Tiger Tail brands in Egypt, Libya, Palestine and Jordan after buying the rights to the brands in April. Edita had produce them under licence for the former Hostess Brands since 2003.
The Egyptian firm’s largest shareholder will remain the founding Berzi family, which will own a 42% stake. Edita chairman and CEO Hani Berzi said: “We received numerous approaches from interested parties, but chose Actis because of its pan-emerging markets consumer sector expertise, and proven commitment to supporting strong resilient businesses regardless of economic cycles and political unrest.”
Actis’s previous investments in north Africa include stakes in food companies Mo’men, El-Rashidi El-Mizan and Poulina.
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