Posted on February, 4, 2025 at 10:26 am
Merec Industries, Mozambique’s largest flour milling company, has been acquired by Invictus Investment Co. PLC, an agro-food enterprise focused in the Middle East and Africa.
The deal was made through the purchase of Merec Industries’ holding entity, Mauritius-based Stratton Africa Holdings Ltd., from current shareholders Amethis Fund II and Merec Financial. Financial terms of the deal’s completion that was announced Feb. 3 were not disclosed.
Merec Industries operates strategically located mills, production facilities and silos, along with a broad food brands portfolio. Merec’s mills have a total annual production capacity of more than 800,000 tonnes of wheat and corn flour. It also has facilities for annually processing over 180,000 tonnes of pasta, biscuits and animal feed, as well as grain silos with a total storage capacity of more than 145,000 tonnes.
Merec’s facilities are in Beira, Maputo and Nacala, which helps the company cover demand in Mozambique and neighboring countries. It also owns a grain terminal at the port of Maputo.
With a population of more than 34 million, Mozambique is an attractive growth market for wheat-based products, Invictus said. The company expects a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% in demand from 2022-27, driven by population growth, urbanization and rising incomes. The pasta market also is expected to offer additional avenues for business growth, Invictus noted, with a forecasted CAGR of 9.5%, driven by evolving dietary preferences.
“The acquisition is expected to add significant scale and synergies between the two companies, increasing our consolidated revenues by over AED 1 billion ($272 million) per annum,” said Amir Daoud Abdellatif, chief executive officer of Invictus Investment. “It will also accelerate other investments and the expansion of our trading activities, fueling substantial EBITDA growth, which is projected to more than double in 2025.
“This move contributes to our long-term strategy to expand our agro-food business in high-potential African markets, develop new strategic partnerships and build on our operational capabilities in the midstream and downstream segments.”
Invictus, established in March 2022 and headquartered in Dubai, is a holding entity primarily focusing on agro-food commodities through its main subsidiary, Invictus Trading FZE, founded in February 2014.
The acquisition of Merec Industries is Invictus Investment’s second major transaction in Africa, following the purchase of a 60% stake in Graderco, Morocco’s leading grains trading company, and its subsidiaries from Zalar Holding.
Source: World Grain