Initial public offering (IPO) of Egypt's snack food maker Edita Food Industries in the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) was 4.5 times oversubscribed, the company announced in an EGX statement on Tuesday. On 27 March, Edita has announced in a statement the pricing of the institutional offering of 92,483,770 of its ordinary shares to be listed in EGX and also London's bourse through the global depositary receipts (GDRs). "An additional 16,320,665 ordinary shares are being offered to the public in Egypt in a separate public offering," the company said, noting that no GDRs will be offered to the public in Egypt. The offer price has been set at EGP 18.50 per ordinary share and $12.28 per GDR, thus the market capitalisation of the company is EGP 6.7bn (approximately $891m), according to Edita's statement. In September 2014, Mark Richards, partner at Actis told the Daily News Egypt that Edita Food Industries Company is planning an IPO. The official announcement came in March when the company said that it plans to offer 30% of its ordinary share. Edita has received the approval of the EGX and the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA). In 2014, Edita has registered EGP 1.9bn in revenues, including EGP 265.9m in net profit. In June 2013, Actis, a global pan-emerging markets private equity firm, invested $102m to acquire a 30% stake of Edita at a rate of $46.8 per share, which has a nominal price of EGP 10. The transaction, which was brokered by HC Securities, reflected Actis' optimism towards Egypt's snack food market, despite macroeconomic hurdles which the company is facing, the company said at that time. The first IPO held after the January 2011 Revolution was made by Arabian Cement Company in May, with the company aiming to raise $100m by listing in the Egyptian stock market. Construction companies Emaar Misr and Orascom Construction has also gone for IPO in March.
