Egyptian dairy firm Arabian Food Industries Co. (Domty) is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on the Cairo bourse in March, Chairman and Managing Director Omar El Damaty said on Wednesday. Food is seen as a fast-growing sector in the Arab nation of about 90 million people and is drawing growing investor interest. "The initial public offering for Domty on the Egyptian bourse will be in March," El Damaty told Reuters by telephone, declining to provide more details. Market sources said Domty planned to raise about 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($127.7 million) through the listing. Domty is the latest in a flurry of IPOs, mergers and rights issues on the Cairo exchange since late last 2014. Economic reforms introduced by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have lifted investor confidence, following four years of political and economic turmoil since the Arab Spring uprising. Egyptian foodmaker Edita's listing of 30 percent of its shares in April was heavily oversubscribed. Cheesemaker Arab Dairy drew keen foreign interest before being bought eventually in March 2015 by Egyptian financial services firm Pioneers Holding. El Damaty's family owns 70 percent of Domty, which was founded in 1989, and a Saudi investor owns the rest. It has two factories in the 6th October district near Cairo and plans to start producing yoghurt and cartoned milk, alongside its cheeses and juice. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/186660.aspx
