ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 13th May, 2020) ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies, has agreed to acquire a 50 percent stake in Al Dahra Holding Company, a multinational agribusiness leader that specialises in animal feed and essential food commodities.
The acquisition of the stake in Abu Dhabi-based Al Dahra is subject to certain regulatory approvals. Upon closing, it will expand the scope of ADQ’s agri-food investments, which also includes Agthia PJSC, Al Foah Company and Silal. Al Dahra specialises in the cultivation, production and trading of animal feed and essential food commodities and end-to-end supply chain management. With a workforce of 5,000 employees, Al Dahra has a presence in over 20 countries and caters to more than 45 commercial markets.
Mohammed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Chief Executive Officer of ADQ, said, "Food and agri-business is of importance to ADQ’s strategy because it is high growth and important for Abu Dhabi’s socio-economic agenda. Since 1995 when Al Dahra was founded in the UAE, it has grown into a global food and animal feed company and is a pillar of Abu Dhabi and our country’s food security mandate. Al Dahra will complement our existing efforts to extend ADQ’s reach in food production and distribution. With our investment, Al Dahra will be well positioned to further expand its reach and footprint while enabling Abu Dhabi to reach its goals of continuing to diversify its food sources and growing into a regional food hub."
Khadim Al Darei, Vice-Chairman and Co-founder of Al Dahra Holding, said, "With ADQ’s wide scale operations and world-class resources, Al Dahra will benefit from a strong and reliable partner and will be better positioned to leverage the group’s expertise to execute on the government’s food security mandate, which become an even greater priority than ever before."
Al Dahra operates a landbank of 350,000 acres of irrigated land with direct access to various rivers such as the Danube, Colorado and Nile rivers, employing the latest irrigation technologies and modern farming machineries. It owns and operates 15 state-of-the-art forage processing and baling facilities globally, catering for the needs of the dairy and cattle industries.
The company also cultivates different types of fresh produce, including a wide range of fruits and vegetables, as well as grains with infrastructure to facilitate grains’ trading. Al Dahra operates three rice mills with capacity to supply 500,000 tonnes annually in India, Pakistan and the UAE; one of these mills is located in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi, KIZAD, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports and part of ADQ’s portfolio.
The company also owns shares in three flour mills in Greece and Bulgaria that have the capacity to supply 500,000 tonnes annually. Additionally, the company has an olive oil production plant in Morocco with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tonnes, and dairy farms in Serbia and the UAE with 20,000 cows and a production capacity of 80 million liters of milk annually.
