Norton Rose Fulbright advises Helios and EAEF on majority acquisition of Misr Hytech

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Helios Investment Partners (Helios) and the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund (EAEF) on their acquisition of 96.7% of the issued share capital of Misr Hytech Seed International (Misr Hytech), an Egyptian agricultural seed producer.

Misr Hytech develops and produces hybrid grain and vegetable seeds in Egypt. Misr Hytech's products contribute to addressing Egypt's fast-growing demand for food and animal feed, whilst improving food security by enhancing domestic farming productivity. The company is headquartered in Cairo, with local R&D and state-of-the-art seed cleaning and processing facilities.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by London corporate partner, Bayo Odubeko, assisted by tax partner Matt Hodkins, IP partner Mike Knapper, and employment partner Catrina Smith of the London office as well as partner Ikenna Emehelu from New York. The cross-border team also included senior corporate associate Nariman Ertem, corporate associate Louise Finnegan, IP associate Lai Lynn Choong, employment associate Joanna McKenzie and tax associate David Schultz. Norton Rose Fulbright’s South Africa office advised on regulatory matters including notification to COMESA. Cairo-based law firm Matouk Bassiouny provided Egyptian law advice on the deal.

Bayo Odubeko commented: “This is an extension of the significant interest we are seeing in the agritech sector globally to the Africa geography. We expect to see the use of technology in agriculture, horticulture, and aquaculture with the aim of improving yield, efficiency, and profitability having a disruptive effect on traditional agricultural patterns.”

Bayo has advised many of the leading Africa-focused private equity and infrastructure funds investing into Africa as well as regional development finance institutions. He has acted on some of the leading private equity transactions in Africa in recent years, including advising Helios Investment Partners on its 2018 acquisition of a majority stake in Egypt’s TPAY Mobile, Ethos Private Equity on its investment in ChannelVAS and a consortium of development finance institutions and investors on the acquisition of Myanmar microfinance business, PACT Global.

For further information please contact:

Louise Nelson, Senior PR Manager
Tel: +44 20 7444 5086; Mob: +44 7909 684 893
louise.nelson@nortonrosefulbright.com