AD Ports Group has invested Dh1.1 billion ($300 million) to raise its stake in Dubai-based Global Feeder Shipping as it seeks to boost connectivity amid trade disruption.
The Abu Dhabi company bought an additional 30 per cent stake in GFS, raising its ownership to 81 per cent, AD Ports said in a statement to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Wednesday, where its shares are traded.
AD Ports, the operator of industrial cities and free zones, first acquired a 51 per cent stake in GFS, the world’s fourth-largest container feeder shipping line by capacity, in February 2024, with an option to increase its ownership by December 2026.
The group has now “exercised this call option at the same total enterprise value of Dh3.67 billion set in 2024”, it said. The acquisition will be funded through a mix of debt and asset monetisation transactions.
“GFS has expanded our reach into new markets and brought us closer to our customers, connecting our ports to more economies across the Red Sea and the Gulf at a time when reliable trade connectivity matters most,” said Capt Mohamed Al Shamisi, managing director and group chief executive of AD Ports Group.
“Our increased ownership in GFS allows us to deepen its integration within the Group’s portfolio and enables further growth across our shipping business.”
The transaction comes amid trade disruption due to the Iran war, with movement through the Strait of Hormuz yet to fully resume.
Hundreds of ships have been left stranded at the narrow waterway due to the conflict, which began on February 28.
GFS operates cargo flows across the Gulf region, while also serving the Indian subcontinent, the Red Sea, the Far East, the Mediterranean and Africa. Last year, the company transported 2.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and made more than 700 voyages covering 89 ports in 54 countries.
Since AD Ports initial acquisition, GFS has generated total cumulative Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of more than Dh1.8 billion, the statement said.
AD Ports’ container-feeder shipping business, which involves the transport of goods using small and medium-sized vessels between major transit hubs and smaller ports, has also grown rapidly since its launch in 2020. GFS, Safeen Feeders and Transmar, provide essential services for the movement of goods in and out of the UAE.
In 2025, overall container feeder shipping revenue of AD Ports rose 17 per cent annually, while the total revenue of the wider maritime and shipping cluster grew by 33 per cent to Dh10.7 billion.
AD Ports is also expanding its operations globally, with the company starting trial operations at Noatum Ports – Safaga Terminal in Egypt this month.
It also agreed to acquire a Brazilian agricultural bulk port terminal operator in a push to expand its global footprint to South America. The deal was valued at Dh3.1 billion.
