Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) said on Thursday it paid $340 million for a 20 per cent stake in fertiliser distributor Gavilon, giving the Egyptian company greater access to US markets.

Egypt's largest builder by market value said it bought the stake as part of Ospraie Special Opportunities Fund's $2.1 billion purchase of Conagra Trade Group from ConAgra Foods Inc earlier this year.

Conagra Trade Group, renamed Gavilon after the purchase, is the largest independent importer of fertiliser into the United States, Orascom said.

'We are now a fertiliser manufacturer and we need to be in distribution,' said Omar Darwazah, Orascom's head of investor relations. 'If you are in distribution you have pricing power and clout.'

Orascom Construction has said it will focus on fertilisers after agreeing to sell its cement unit to French company Lafarge for 8.8 billion euros ($13.89 billion) last year.

'This facilitates the distribution of OCI's fertilisers produced in Egypt, Algeria, and Nigeria by opening export markets for OCI in the United States,' said NematAlla Choucri, vice president for research at Egypt-based HC Brokerage.

The trading and merchandising business, a vestige of ConAgra's roots as more of a commodity-based company, had helped support ConAgra's profits for several quarters, while other parts of its business have suffered.

Gavilon distributes and trades products including fertilisers, grains, energy, and feed ingredients. It sold 7.1 million tonnes of fertiliser products in 2007.-Reuters