Gozour Acquires “Enjoy” from Haykala

Regional agrifood platform Gozour, established by Citadel Capital and a group of leading regional co-investors, has acquired the Nile Company for Food Industries (Enjoy), one of Egypt’s top manufacturers of dairy and juice products.

The selling party is Haykala, the Egyptian private equity firm founded in 2005 by the Commercial International Bank, Egypt’s largest bank by market capitalization. The sale was completed in a competitive process that attracted top regional and industry players; neither party disclosed the value of the transaction.

“Enjoy is a company in which we have been interested for quite some time,” said Gozour Foods CEO Mohamed El-Rashidi. “The tremendous amount of growth potential that we see in the FMCG and dairy markets in Egypt and the MENA region — combined with the obvious synergies that exist between Enjoy and other entities within Gozour — drove us to conclude this timely deal.”

Enjoy is a leading Egyptian producer of dairy products and fruit juices, with exports to North America, Western Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Under Haykala’s control, Enjoy gained significant market share with sales growing by more than 50% since its acquisition from El-Tawil family in 2006. Today, Enjoy is the second-largest producer of packaged milk and juices and the fourth-largest producer of packaged yoghurt.

“Haykala has successfully completed its originally planned value creation model in Enjoy,” said Hisham Abdel Fattah, Managing Director of Haykala. “Under our control, the company regained its brand equity and market share. It has turned from a family-run business into an institutionalized one, and we were able to reposition it as a leading brand. It’s time for Enjoy to move into the control of another investor that can take it into the next phase of its life cycle.”

“The decision to exit Enjoy was a difficult one,” added Mohamed Khairat, Haykala’s Executive Director. “As disciplined investors, we have taken a decision that is in the best interests of our shareholders. We followed a sound process to maximize Enjoy’s valuation for our shareholders, and we thank the Gozour and Citadel Capital teams for their professional performance in a highly competitive process. We wish them all the success in continuing what we have started in this promising company.”

Gozour was created in September 2007 when Citadel Capital, the leading private equity firm in the Middle East and North Africa, together with a leading group of co-investors purchased Dina Farms. Dina Farms is the largest private farm in Egypt with 10,000 feddans of agricultural land. Today, Gozour includes renowned confectioner Rashidi El-Mizan, cheese producer El-Misrieen, produce exporter El-Aguizy International, specialty foods producer Mom’s Foods, the Egyptian Company for Powdered Milk, and a minority stake in the National Company for Maize Products (NCMP), a producer of intermediate goods such as corn-based sweeteners and starch.

As a part of Gozour, Enjoy will benefit from synergies in distribution networks and the joint sourcing of both packaging and raw materials such as sugar, fruit and, most importantly, milk. The company will have direct access to the milk supply of Dina Farms, a commodity that is currently in high demand on the local market.. Enjoy will only source milk from Dina Farms, which is expected to produce over 45,000 tons of raw milk in 2009, this will ensure safety, and superior-quality of all Enjoy’s dairy products. Enjoy will be the only milk manufacturer in the Egypt which has its own dairy farm.

“This acquisition fits perfectly with Gozour’s existing portfolio companies,” said Hatem Noweir, Managing Director of El Misryyeen. “El-Misriyeen — the first company to produce cheese in the Egyptian market — already makes high quality cheeses and juices. Enjoy’s portfolio of yoghurt, milk and juices complements that product lineup perfectly, and both companies can call on a steady flow of quality fresh milk from Dina Farms.”

“With a strong management team and the right financial backup, we can turn Enjoy into a strong regional player that can compete with and capture market share from top international companies at home and abroad,” concluded El-Rashidi.