São Paulo – As part of its growth strategy in the Middle East, the Brazilian food company BRF announced on Wednesday (6th) evening that it had concluded the purchase of a stake in the Qatar National Import and Export Co. (QNIE). The company from the Gulf country has been a distributor of BRF’s frozen products in Qatar for over 40 years. BRF, owner of brands Sadia and Perdigão, will pay the amount of USD 140 million for the deal.
On October 5, BRF reported that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to buy a stake in QNIE. Now, the company has confirmed the operation. In a statement signed by director-vice-president of Finance and Relations with Investors, Augusto Ribeiro Júnior, BRF says that the purchase is “in line” with its strategic globalization plan of accessing local markets, strengthening its brands, to distribute and expand its portfolio of products in the world.
The Brazilian company has been expanding its presence in the Gulf countries. In 2014, BRF opened a plant at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The plant should employ up to 1,700 people until next year and produce frozen pizzas, breaded and marinated products and hamburgers. The plant has an output capacity of up to 70,000 tons of food per year.
In addition to this investment, BRF also bought stakes in other two distributors in the region in 2014. In Oman, the Brazilian company paid USD 68.5 million for 40% of Al Kahn Foods in February of the aforementioned year. In Kuwait, 75% of Alyasra were purchased in November for USD 160 million.
Stocks of the company listed at the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) were traded for BRL 53.19 (USD 13.12) at 1:39 PM, a decline of 1.77%.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
