The Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Co. (SALIC) is close to acquiring Mriya farming company in Ukraine, Bloomberg has reported, referring to its sources. “The U.K. unit of Saudi Arabia’s state-run Salic is nearing a deal to buy Mriya Agro Holding Plc… The acquisition would take the Salic-operated farming area in Ukraine to just over 200,000 hectares,” the sources of Bloomberg said. Mriya agroholding CEO Simon Cherniavsky declined to comment on the issue.
SALIC was founded in 2012. Its sole shareholder is the Saudi Arabian State Investment Fund. The company invests in the production of agricultural and livestock products. According to Bloomberg, SALIC in Ukraine manages about 45,000 hectares, which are adjacent to the farms run by Mriya.
The Saudi firm has shown a willingness to expand in recent years. In 2015, it joined U.S. agribusiness giant Bunge Ltd. to buy a majority stake in the former Canadian Wheat Board to create G3 Global Grain Group. In addition, SALIC was also one of the bidders for a 9.9% stake in Glencore Plc’s agriculture arm in 2016.
Mriya Agro Holding is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding founded in 1992 by Ivan Huta. Today, its land bank is 165,000 hectares. The capacity of its silos and grain storages is estimated at 380,000 tonnes.
