Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s Almarai, the Gulf’s largest dairy company, said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy frozen bakery item manufacturer and producer Bakemart in the UAE and Bahrain for 93.5 million dirham ($25.5 million), Reuters reported.
The deal, fully funded through Almarai’s operating cash flow, would expand the Saudi company’s bakery range, the company said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange.
Bakemart was estalished in 2003 and has two production facilities based in the UAE, including the head office in Dubai. The company also has operations in Qatar and Bahrain.
In addition to dairy business, Almarai is a big player in bakery business., having entered the bakery products market in 2007 by acquiring Jeddah-based Western Bakeries.
Two years later, it started the construction of a new bakery facility in Al Kharj. In the same year, it established a joint venture with Chipita and Olayan Finance Company under the name of the Modern Company Industries to launch 7DAYS brand.
