Agthia Group PJSC, the region’s leading food and beverage company, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a strategic acquisition of a 100% stake in BMB Group, the GCC’s leading innovative healthy snacks and food company. BMB manufactures and distributes a wide variety of chocolate, Mediterranean sweets, bakery ingredients and healthy snacks and food for its own brands and partners.
Launched in 2007, BMB has a large portfolio of confectionery and healthy food brands – including Asateer, Al Qamar, Freakin’ Healthy and Benoit – and distributes over 2,000 SKUs in more than 23 countries worldwide, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and USA.
The acquisition of BMB would represent Agthia’s commitment to expanding its healthy food categories and enable the company to leverage the strength of BMB’s capabilities to accelerate its presence in the snacking and healthy food segment. Agthia established a footprint in the space earlier this year with the acquisition of date company Al Foah. With the global healthy snacks market forecast to reach almost AED 360 billion ($98 billion) by 2025 according to Euromonitor, Agthia is positioning itself in an expanding segment, with scalable regional and global brands.
The acquisition of BMB is expected to drive tangible short- and long-term value for all stakeholders with significant cost and revenue synergy opportunities from the integration of the combined platform, enabling footprint expansion in the confectionery market, healthy snacking market, and cross-market distribution.
Khalifa Sultan Al Suwaidi, Chairman of Agthia Group, said: “Earlier this year, we presented Agthia’s corporate strategy to the public, and outlined our commitment to investing into the fastest growing and profitable segments of the food and beverage space. The acquisition of BMB aligns with that mandate, and will accelerate the footprint of our snacking business, while adding strong brands and capabilities to our portfolio. We are also pleased with the immediate value accretion that the acquisition of BMB creates for Agthia’s shareholders.”
Alan Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Agthia Group, said: “This acquisition would enable Agthia to expand its presence and operations in the snacking vertical, further diversifying our extensive product portfolio and geographic reach. In addition to immediate access to new revenue streams and markets, we are excited by the prospect of exploring opportunities to fuel product innovation, such as the development of new healthy and specialist snacks in response to market trends.”
Bilal Ballout and Mohamad Khachab, Co-Chief Executive Officers of BMB Group, said: “As a homegrown UAE business, it gives us immense pride to partner with Agthia for the next phase of our growth, one in which we wish to serve our customers through increased product innovation, scale our business across the healthy foods segment, and continue to evolve into a truly global foods conglomerate. We would like to thank our customers, suppliers, and employees for the invaluable role that they continue to play in our journey and wish to welcome Agthia to the BMB family.”
During the Last Twelve Months (LTM) period ending 30 June 2021, BMB generated total revenues of around AED 268 million and EBITDA of approximately AED 54 million, with healthy EBITDA margins expected to grow to around 20% this year.
The transaction will be for 100% of BMB and is expected to be fully funded by cash, and immediately accretive to Agthia’s earnings.
BMB is headquartered in Dubai, UAE, where its two manufacturing facilities, stretching over a combined total of 150,000 square feet, are located. The Group employs nearly 1,000 staff.
The transaction is subject to satisfying customary closing conditions, including obtaining relevant regulatory approvals.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is acting as legal counsel to Agthia. EFG Hermes is acting as financial advisor to Agthia.
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