Orascom Construction Industries yesterday said it was acquiring the fertiliser business of Abraaj Capital in exchange for cash and shares worth $1.59bn.

The deal, which gives OCI a 100 per cent stake in Egyptian Fertilizers Company , is the first by the group since it sold its cement group to France’s Lafarge for $12.9bn. That sale was intended to allow OCI to move out of a sector it deemed to be consolidating and free up resources to expand into new growth areas.