April 11, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Abu Dhabi’s largest holding company ADQ has acquired a significant stake in Unifrutti Group (Unifrutti), one of the world’s leading producers and distributors of fresh produce. 

Unifrutti holds more than 14,000 hectares of farmland on four continents, producing more than 100 varieties of fresh produce including apples, bananas, cherries, citrus fruit, and grapes. Each year the company sells approximately 560,000 tons of this fresh fruit to more than 500 customers across 50 countries.

Formerly known as Abu Dhabi Development Holding Co., ADQ was established in 2018 and is one of the largest holding companies in the region with investments in more than 90 local and international companies.

In early 2021, ADQ secured financing of about $1 billion through a group of small banks, including First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Natixis, for the acquisition.

As a strategic partner of Abu Dhabi’s government, with this war chest ADQ has a commitment to drive the transformation of the UAE toward greater food security and a global competitive and knowledge-based economy.

Commenting on the Unifrutti transaction, Gil Adotevi, executive director of food and agriculture, ADQ said, “We are developing our food and agriculture portfolio with the aim of generating strong financial returns while bolstering food resilience in the UAE.”

This strategy has also been evident through ADQ’s recent moves, most notably, its acquisition in September 2021 of a 45 percent stake in the closely held Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) – a deal that marked the first time LDC opened itself up to a non-family stakeholder in its 170-year history. 

The addition of Unifrutti to ADQ’s portfolio is being seen as complementary to its existing holdings, such as LDC, Silal, Abu Dhabi’s leading fresh produce and agtech company; Al Dahra Holding, an Abu Dhabi-based leader in forage and other agribusiness categories; and Agthia Group, one of the top food and beverage groups in the region.

“Our investment in Unifrutti would enable ADQ to develop a global platform for fresh produce that complements our other portfolio companies throughout the food value chain,” said Adotevi. “We believe our long-term strategic investment will help accelerate Unifrutti’s next phase of growth and build on its strong position as a leader in the global fresh produce sector.”

Unifrutti was founded in 1948 by Italian entrepreneur Guido De Nadai as a fruit and vegetable trading company in Asmara. It specialized in importing Italian products, but soon extended into other far reaching regions, to eventually have farms in Italy, Chile, Turkey, the Philippines, and South Africa. The group has offices in Japan, Italy, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, Philippines, Turkey, the Middle East, China, and India, and due to its direct ownership in its farms, controls its entire value chain.

In 2020, the company continued its evolution beyond the parameters of a family business when The Carlyle Group invested an incremental €35 million (US$41.4 million) in the business.

This investment was structured as an add-on to bond financing completed in 2019 when Carlyle provided a €140 million (US$165.6 million) debut debt financing package for Unifrutti that brought Carlyle’s total investments in the company to €175 million (US$207 million).

Today, the company owns 60 farms, 43 facilities, and has 11,000 employees working under a vertically integrated aggregation model that allows the group to forge bilateral and long-term partnerships between the group and its network, mixing in-house production with supporting local farmers, fresh fruit producers, and trading companies.

Speaking on behalf of the shareholders at Unifrutti Group, the De Nadai and Mondin families commented, “ADQ’s track record in the food and agriculture sector makes the company an ideal major shareholder and investor. We share a common belief in the global growth potential of the fresh produce sector and a strategy to capture commercial opportunities present in the sector to generate sustainable growth. As such, this agreement is a significant milestone in Unifrutti’s journey and ADQ’s investment will enable us to expand our global footprint in line with our long-term development strategy.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Partners’ Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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