Actis, a pan-emerging market private equity investor, has sold half of its stake in Edita Food Industries, the largest independent snack food business in North Africa.

Subject to final completion, Actis has sold a 15% stake as part of a heavily oversubscribed offer through the Egyptian (EGX) and London stock (LSE) exchanges.

Sherif Elkholy, Director at Actis and Edita board member, said: “It is fantastic to see Edita embark on the next stage of its development as a publicly-traded company. In addition to achieving great financial results, Edita has strategically strengthened and successfully diversified its brand portfolio.”

The institutional offering was 13.4x oversubscribed and the retail offering was 4.4x oversubscribed.

Hani Berzi, Edita Chairman and Managing Director, said: “The breadth of investor interest in our offering is tremendously gratifying. It demonstrates that our strategy of investing in our facilities and distribution network, and focusing on product development, quality and organic growth have been on target.”

“The listing shows that savvy, global investors see the strength and long-term potential of both Edita and Egypt, the Arab world’s largest consumer market. We are delighted to continue having Actis as a key investor in Edita, as it has brought outstanding emerging markets experience to the business,” he said.

The IPO price of EGP 18.5/share reflects a market capitalization of EGP 6.7bn ($890m) for the company, with a free float of 30%.

The other selling shareholder was a subsidiary of leading Greek snack foods player Chipita.

Actis invested $102m for a 30% stake in Edita in June 2013.

Founded in 1996 by the Berzi family and Chipita, Edita is a leader in the growing Egyptian packaged snack food market which delivered sales of EGP 1.9bn ($265m) in 2014.

The company manufactures, markets and distributes branded baked snack products including packaged cakes, croissants, rusks (baked wheat snacks), wafers and confectionary.

Edita’s brand portfolio includes household names such as Molto, Todo, Hohos, Twinkies, Bake Rolz, Freska and MiMix.

Elkholy said: “Since we invested, the business has launched its new headquarters and logistics hub, increased production capacity with a major investment in a new factory, and upgraded its ERP system. In addition, the management have brought corporate governance standards up to international levels, and we have been happy to be part of that journey.”

“The strong interest received for the IPO signals significant appetite from both Egyptian and international institutional investors,” he said.