Kellogg and Abraaj battle for Egypt's Bisco Misr

The battle for control of Egyptian cake and biscuit maker Bisco Misr intensified on Wednesday as Abraaj Investment Management raised its initial bid to trump a rival offer from Kellogg Co.

UAE-based Abraaj, the Middle East's largest private equity firm, raised its offer to 80.58 Egyptian pounds ($11.27) per share, exactly two percent above a bid of 79 pounds on Tuesday from Kellogg, the world's biggest breakfast cereal maker.

The bidding war is part of flurry of mergers and rights issues boosting activity on the Cairo bourse, an exchange which has struggled to revive investor confidence during the political and economic turmoil that followed the Arab Spring uprisings.

Egypt's government this year launched a raft of long-delayed reforms aimed at luring back foreign investors and shoring up growth while cutting a ballooning deficit.