Agthia completes acquisition of Jordan's Nabil Foods

Abu Dhabi food and beverage company agreed to acquire 80% of Nabil Foods in January

Agthia, the company that produces Al Ain water, agreed to acquire Nabil Foods in January. Delores Johnson / The National

Abu Dhabi food and beverage company Agthia said on Monday that its shareholders approved the acquisition of Jordan-based processed meat producer Nabil Foods.

The move expands Agthia’s overall category portfolio by adding processed protein to its current businesses.

The transaction is "well aligned with our 2025 transformational strategy that is focused on pursuing new, scalable opportunities in the region over the next five years that will help extend Agthia’s market leadership, provide significant value for all our stakeholders and continue to drive profitability”, said Alan Smith, chief executive of the Agthia Group.

Agthia agreed in January to acquire a 60 per cent stake in Nabil Foods from industrial holding company ADQ in exchange for a convertible instrument and a further 20 per cent stake from Ideal Holding, bringing the total size of its shareholding to 80 per cent in the food processing company.

The price at which the instrument will convert into shares in Agthia is Dh5.50 per share, implying an equity value of Dh394 million ($107.3m) for ADQ's stake in Nabil Foods.

Nabil Foods has a processing capacity of 43,000 tonnes a year and more than 600 product lines.

Agthia, which owns water brands such as Al Ain and Al Bayan, has been on an acquisition spree in a bid to expand its offerings. It recently acquired Kuwait's Al Faysal Bakery & Sweets and Al Foah, the world's largest date-processing and packaging company.

The company also bought a 75 per cent stake in Egypt's Ismailia Investments, or Atyab, which makes frozen meat products. The deal is valued at $205 million, Agthia said in a statement in April.

Agthia's first-quarter net profit surged 86 per cent this year to Dh49.6m, helped by the contribution from the Al Foah dates and the Al Faysal Bakery & Sweets businesses, both of which were integrated into the group's results during the quarter.

The company said it will add results from Nabil Foods in the second quarter and those from Ismailia Investments in the third quarter.

Agthia, which employs more than 4,000 people, also announced a five-year strategy to become the biggest food and beverage company in the region by 2025.