Abu Dhabi: ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies with a diverse portfolio of major enterprises spanning key sectors of Abu Dhabi’s non-oil economy, has agreed to acquire a 50 per cent stake in Al Dahra Holding Company, a multinational agribusiness group 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 Group, Al Foah Company and Silal.
With a workforce of 5,000 employees, Al Dahra currently has a presence in over 20 countries and caters to more than 45 commercial markets globally.
“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,” said Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi, CEO of ADQ, commenting on the acquisition.
“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,” he added.
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 some of the latest irrigation technologies and modern farming machineries. Al Dahra also operates three rice mills with capacity to supply 500,000 tons 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 also part of ADQ’s portfolio.
Al Dahra is committed to expanding its global agriculture and agri-food processing footprint and strengthening our integrated supply chain to address the food security needs of the UAE,” said Khadim Al Darei, vice-chairman and co-founder of Al Dahra Holding.
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,” he added.
