Wednesday, Jun 19, 2013
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Dubai-based The Abraaj Group said it has acquired West-African frozen dairy and juice company Fan Milk International as the private equity firm looks to tap a surge in spending by the continent's consumers.
FMI, originally founded by Danish entrepreneur Erik Emborg in the 1960s, has subsidiaries in Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, Benin and Burkina Faso -where gross domestic product and consumer growth are increasing rapidly. It sells over 1.8 million products each day, Abraaj said in a statement.
"The considerable investment and growth plans we have for FMI mirror the scale and depth of investment opportunities that we believe are now abundant on the African continent," said Abraaj founder and chief executive Arif Naqvi. The acquisition's financial details weren't disclosed.
Abraaj so far has invested $2.2 billion in 69 companies across Africa. Earlier this year, it bought a stake in Uganda's largest pharmacy retail chain.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of November. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted as legal advisor to the acquirer while Norton Rose Fulbright advised Fan Milk International.
Abraaj currently manages $7.5 billion in assets.
Write to Nicolas Parasie at nicolas.parasie@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
19-06-13 1047GMT
