B Investments’ Board of Directors approved the acquisition of a majority stake in Gourmet Group of Companies (Gourmet Egypt-GE and Gourmet Food Solutions-GFS – “Gourmet Group”) one of Egypt’s leading food retailing and manufacturing companies. The transaction entails the acquisition of 40% of the share capital of Gourmet Group for c. EGP 65 million and a capital increase of up to EGP 60 million which will result in B Investments holding a c.53% stake in Gourmet Group.
Proceeds from the capital increase will be utilized to expand Gourmet Group’s frozen meat and poultry processing plant in 6th October as well as growing the production capacity of its ready to eat, ready to cook, and heat and eat food solutions. The investment in the food processing plants will further enhance the business-to-business operations and will so enable Gourmet Group’s retail operations to lead the market in meeting the changing consumers habits.
B Investments’ extensive financial and strategic expertise will enable Gourmet Group to leverage its strong brand equity to strategically grow within the F&B sector, while utilizing its presence in the retail market to further bolster its existing business in the food processing sector.
“We are extremely excited to partner with Gourmet Group’s experienced management team and to continue its growth story to become Egypt’s leading fresh, high quality food provider” said Mr. Hazem Barakat, Chairman of B Investments. “This is B Investments’ third investment since its IPO after completing investments in Tamweel Group and Masary through Ebtikar, B Investments’ non-banking financial services platform” added Mr. Barakat.
Mr. Jalal Abu Gazaleh, Chairman of Gourmet Group added “We are thrilled to partner up with B Investments. We share the same vision and we are confident that this partnership will enable Gourmet Group to continue innovating and growing the business and keeping our customers excited and eating exceptionally well.”