US-based Ingredion Incorporated has formally agreed to sell up to 75.10% of its shareholding in Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited to Pakistan’s Nishat Group, marking one of the largest mergers and acquisitions transactions in the country in almost twenty years. The agreement has been executed through Share Purchase Agreements (SPAs) between Ingredion, the Mannoo family, and the Nishat Group. The transaction will give Nishat a controlling stake in Rafhan Maize, which has an estimated market capitalisation of approximately Rs100 billion (around $355 million). Rafhan Maize, a subsidiary of Ingredion, began operations in Pakistan in 1953 as a pioneer of the country’s corn refining industry. Over more than six decades, it has expanded into one of Pakistan’s leading agro-based industrial companies. Today, it operates three production facilities nationwide and maintains a production capacity more than five times that of its nearest competitor, making it the market leader in Pakistan’s starch sector. Arif Habib Limited acted as the exclusive financial adviser to Ingredion for the transaction. Shahid Ali Habib, Chief Executive Officer of Arif Habib Limited, described the deal as a landmark transaction that ranks among Pakistan’s largest M&A deals in nearly two decades. Ingredion will retain a strategic stake in Rafhan Maize following the transaction and will continue to support the company alongside the Nishat Group. (ICE ISLAMABAD)

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