Pioneers Holding for Financial Investments SAE is studying a number of new deals and acquisitions for 2015, Walid Zaki, Chairman of the Board of Directors said in a statement, Tuesday. Three new potential acquisitions in the sectors of food and real estate are expected to be completed this year, Zaki added. The comment comes after the company purchased a 52% stake in the Arab Dairy Products Company SAE, totalling approximately 3.5m shares, according to a Monday statement from Pharos Holding Company. The transaction was concluded by Pharos that agreed to sell to the highest bidder, which leads a full service investment bank based in Cairo. On 2 March, it was announced that Pioneers Holding won the bid to acquire the dairy company, the percentage of shares acquired however were yet to be revealed. The Egyptian Stock Exchange announced that it will prolong the validity of the declared purchase until 11 March. Several international and domestic companies aside from Pioneer Holding have attempted to gain a slice of the Arab Dairy cake, with competitors including: Lactalis's Al-Nour Company; Danish Arla Foods; Indian company Paras Dairy; and Saudi Arabia's Arrow Food Distribution. The last round, however, included only Al-Nour and Pioneers, with the former's offer at EGP 71.00 per share, and the latter offering at EGP 71.11 per share. The deal was sealed "following a period of 60 working days of public bidding via mandatory tender offers on Arab Dairy". The company had been listed in the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) for several months, the statement highlighted. Pioneers Holding already had a 16.73% stake in Arab Dairy. The statement added that "the transaction values 100% of Arab Dairy's shares at an equity value of EGP 426.7m", with an enterprise worth of about EGP 601m. Earlier this month, Pioneers Holding approved a capital increase of EGP 3bn ($393m), planning to issue 170m shares at EGP 17.63 per share. Arab Dairy bids started in December 2014. The company started production in Egypt in 1990, and currently exports to countries across the Middle East. It registered a loss of EGP 24m in the first nine months of 2014, according to its statements. Pioneers Holding, which specialises in brokerage services and operates in Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain, offers market research and investment banking for retail and institutional clients. In 2013, the company registered a 37% increase in net profits, marking EGP 358m ($51m) in 2013 compared to EGP 260.5m in the previous year. The Egyptian Stock Exchange has been witnessing some activity since the start of 2015, as on 4 March, the Listing Committee of (EGX) approved Emaar Properties PJSC and Orascom Construction (OC) EGX listings. Capitals amounted to $878m and $105m, respectively, the biggest listing operations on the EGX for almost five years. In January 2015, New York stock market listed firm Kellogg's acquired 85.93% stakes of Egypt's main producer of biscuits and cakes, Bisco Misr, equivalent to EGP 9.8m.
