Buffett s Dairy Queen to expand into Egypt, Macau
International Dairy Queen, the ice cream retailer owned by Warren Buffett s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, said on Tuesday that it planned in 2010 to open its first stores in Egypt and Macau.
Dairy Queen said Egyptian-run Boraie Development would open the first DQ Grill & Chill restaurant in Cairo this summer. It said there was potential to open 40 to 50 restaurants in four or five additional Egyptian cities.
The company also said the Hon Hoi Group (International) Co planned to open a Dairy Queen in Macau this spring and a second location in the region later this year. It said Hon Hoi operates restaurants in Macau, China and Canada.
Based in Minneapolis, Dairy Queen said it had more than 5,700 stores in 19 countries, including 652 locations outside the United States and Canada.
Berkshire bought Dairy Queen in 1998. Buffett, 79, is the world s second-richest person, and habitually snacks on a $1 Dairy Queen dessert prior to Berkshire s annual meetings on Saturday mornings in its Omaha, Nebraska, hometown. -Reuters
Meditrade seeks at least 30,000 T edible oil
Egypt s Meditrade said on Wednesday it was seeking at least 30,000 tons of edible oil for arrival during the second half of March or the first half of April.
Meditrade was looking to buy 15,000 to 20,000 tons of soyoil and 15,000 to 20,000 tons of sunflower oil, vice chairman Hisham Amin said.
The deadline for bids is Feb. 16, he said.
The privately-owned Meditrade tenders on average once a month to buy vegetable oil on behalf of the state-owned General Authority for Supply Commodities.
Egypt s state-owned Food Industries Holding Company said last Wednesday that it was seeking 15,000 tons of sunflower oil and 15,000 tons of soybean oil for arrival in the first half of March. -Reuters
Orascom Telecom sets GDR subscription deadline
Egypt s Orascom Telecom Holding, the biggest mobile phone operator in the Middle East, said Tuesday that the subscription deadline for new global depositary receipts, or GDRs, as part of a rights issue is Feb. 18.
Subscription forms and payment must be submitted to Bank of New York Mellon (BK), said Orascom in an e-mailed statement.
Orascom said last month that the subscription price for new GDRs as part of its $800 million rights issue is the dollar equivalent of 5 Egyptian pounds per new GDR.
Orascom Telecom said in December that its shareholders approved the rights issue to strengthen the company s balance sheet, even as it is trying to resolve a tax issue with Algerian authorities.
The proposed rights issue is intended to further strengthen the company s balance sheet, ensure Orascom s liquidity, including financing needs for the company in case there is no immediate resolution of the tax dispute in Algeria, and for general corporate purposes, Orascom said in December.
Orascom Telecom has been slapped with a $600 million tax claim and penalties for FY2004-07 despite the fact that Orascom Telecom Algeria was tax exempted until mid-2007, the company said in November. -Dow Jones
Brazilians buy big stake in Portuguese cement firm
Brazilian construction company Camargo Correa SA said Wednesday it paid ?975 million ($1.35 billion) for a 22 percent stake in Portugal s largest cement company, Cimpor, which is already the target of a takeover bid by Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional.
Cimpor has business in 12 foreign countries, including Brazil, Spain, Egypt, South Africa, Turkey, India and China.
Camargo Correa, one of Brazil s largest construction businesses, said in a statement it bought almost 150 million Cimpor shares from Portugal s Teixeira Duarte at a price of ?6.5 a share. Teixeira Duarte was Cimpor s largest shareholder.
Rio de Janeiro-based Companhia Siderurgica Nacional, which launched its takeover bid in December, is offering ?5.75 a share. Cimpor s board rejected that bid, saying it was too low.
Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim has also expressed interest in Cimpor. Camargo Correa said it wants to enter a partnership with Cimpor to build up its presence abroad. -AP
Mohieldin: Public debt down to LE 4 bln
Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin said that the public debt settlement program has successfully managed to decrease debt from its 2004 level at LE 32 billion, down to LE 4 billion by the end of 2009.
He expects to level off the remaining debt during 2010. -Al-Alam Al-Youm
KIMA to be restructured
The Holding Company for Chemicals approved allocating LE 3.3 billion for the restructuring of Egyptian Chemical Industries (KIMA), reported Al-Alam Al-Youm.
Fertilizers exports down
CAPMAS revealed that fertilizers exports fell by 57 percent to LE 413 million in November 2009 compared to LE 959 million in the comparative period last year, reported Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Delta cement prices fall
Head of Alexandria Chamber of Commerce announced that the cement selling prices in Delta decreased by LE 25 per ton registering LE 520 per ton compared to LE 545 per ton in the earlier year. -Al-Mal
