Qalaa Holdings is considering an exit of remaining Egyptian food businesses to accelerate group deleveraging and de-risking.

Qalaa Holdings has mandated EFG Hermes Investment Banking to advise on the possibility of full divestiture of Rashidi El-Mizan, a leading confectioner and market leader in halawa and tahini products; and Dina Farms, the largest private-sector dairy farm in Egypt and Africa and the top fresh packaged milk producer in the country.

Hisham El-Khazindar, Qalaa Co-Founder and Managing Director, said: “Any divestiture would achieve the twin aim of significantly accelerating the deleveraging of Qalaa, while simultaneously funding growth opportunities in core subsidiaries.”

Qalaa expects to generate approximately $300m in proceeds from exits in the medium term.

The packaged foods industry in Egypt has recently seen an uptick in M&A activity.

Ahmed Heikal, Qalaa Holdings Chairman and Founder, said that the firm has been approached by more than one party interested in potential transactions regarding their key investments in the agrifoods sector.

“We have a clear duty to shareholders to fully explore our options in this respect,” he said.

“This will hasten our return to profitability, which we would now anticipate in 2015 as opposed to next year as we had originally envisioned,” he added.

Formerly known as Citadel Capital, Qalaa Holdings controls subsidiaries in core industries including energy, cement, agrifoods, transportation & logistics, and mining.