(Recasts with details from SNI statement, background)

RABAT, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Kraft Foods KFT.O is to pay 1.31 billion dirhams ($151 million) to take full control of Morocco's top biscuit maker, Bimo, from local investment holding National Investment Co. (SNI), controlled by the country's royal family, SNI said on Tuesday.

SNI said it had signed an agreement for the sale of its 50 percent stake in Bimo to double Kraft Foods' stake in the company to 100 percent.

"This transaction paves the way for a new phase in strengthening Bimo's leadership and development," SNI said in an emailed statement, citing Kraft Foods as "top partner because of its expertise and know-how" in the biscuit industry.

Kraft representatives were not immediately available for comment.

The deal is expected to be finalised within six months at the latest, a source close to the deal said.

SNI will use the sale proceeds to "reduce its debt and fund affiliates' investment", the source said.

Unlisted Bimo controls close to 13 percent of Morocco's biscuit sales, a market share that has been dwindling in recent years due mostly to growing local competition and the effects of free trade deals, mostly with the European Union and Turkey.

SNI said Bimo, founded in 1981 and which currently has two production units and 1,400 employees, had sales worth 831 million dirhams in 2011.

Biscuit consumption per capita in Morocco is growing fast although it remains among the lowest in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The deal with Kraft Foods is SNI's third move in what is expected to be a series of transactions involving its stakes in the country's biggest lender, AttijariWafa Bank ATW.CS , and Morocco's sole sugar refiner, Cosumar CSMR.CS .

SNI, also involved in partnerships with French firms including Lafarge LAFP.PA , ArcelorMittal and Renault

RENA.PA , plans to focus its future growth strategy on other sectors such as tourism, telecoms and renewable energies.

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($1 = 8.6621 Moroccan dirhams)

(Reporting By Souhail Karam; Editing by William Hardy)

((souhail.karam@thomsonreuters.com))

Keywords: KRAFT MOROCCO/BIMO