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Arla eyes majority stake in Egyptian Domty
Dairy giant Arla has made a non-binding offer for a majority stake in Egypt's Domty, formally Arabian Food Industries Company. The offer is worth $183 million, assuming full ownership.
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Arla has been active in the Egyptian market for a long time and has good existing contacts with the company. Domty is the largest local dairy company. It owns two factories and employs 4.000 people.
The expectation is not that Arla will take over all the shares, but that a minority will remain in the hands of the current owners, the El Damaty family. They will also continue to supply the CEO. It is Arla's intention to take Domty off the stock exchange.
Arla sees the dairy market in Egypt and the entire MENA region as a sales area of increasing importance and therefore wants to have a firm foothold there. Whether the bid for the Egyptian company will succeed, remains to be seen. Arla also does not want to comment further on the state of affairs until more is clear about the interest in the takeover bid.