DUBAI
Phoenix Group has secured a $205 million borrowing base from a seven-bank consortium to invest in its rice business in India, Asia and Africa, the firm announced on Tuesday.
The UAE-based firm, registered at Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, said the move will allow it to double its turnover in 3-5 years, and make it the world’s biggest rice trading business by volume. It is currently one of the world’s top three, with revenues exceeding $2 billion, it said in a statement.
Group chairman Gaurav Dharwan said. “This is a unique bespoke facility, centred around rice business to Africa and allowing the flexibility for value capture across the entire chain from primary domestic procurement in Asia to downstream import and whole sale distribution in Africa.
“The facility is targeted today at Mozambique, Benin and Ivory Coast as destinations and India as origin, but can be expanded very easily across geographies, both origins and destinations, as well as other agricultural products and we will look to upsize the facility aligning with our growth.”
Phoenix Group, founded in Singapore in 2000, now employs 2,500 people and operates in 22 countries from its headquarters in Dubai.
Dharwan added, “This herald’s a new beginning in the financial structuring of Phoenix and would provide both liquidity as well as operative efficiency, which we hope to see translate to business competitiveness and increase of volumes and our market share.”
