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Saudi Arabia’s SALIC, Brazil’s Minerva Buy Australian Lamb Company for about $260 Mln

SALIC and Minerva Foods announce the acquisition of the Australian Lamp Company. (SALIC)
SALIC and Minerva Foods announce the acquisition of the Australian Lamp Company. (SALIC)
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Saudi Arabia’s SALIC, Brazil’s Minerva Buy Australian Lamb Company for about $260 Mln

SALIC and Minerva Foods announce the acquisition of the Australian Lamp Company. (SALIC)
SALIC and Minerva Foods announce the acquisition of the Australian Lamp Company. (SALIC)

The Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC), owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and Brazilian meatpacker Minerva has acquired the Australian Lamb Company (ALC) for 970 million riyals ($258 million), SALIC said in a statement on Friday.

The acquisition was done through Minerva Foods Australia, a joint venture established last year between SALIC and Minerva Foods, SALIC said.

According to a securities filing, following the deal Minerva will hold about 15% of the lamb and sheep market in Australia, where it already owns Shark Lake and Great Eastern Abattoir.

"We believe the consolidation of our operations in Australia, the investments in improving facilities and maximizing operational and commercial structures would bring significant synergies in the coming months," Minerva said.

Australian Lamb Company has a slaughtering capacity of 3.78 million animals per year and owns two processing plants in the state of Victoria, Minerva noted, adding that exports account for 93% of its sales.

"The acquisition of ALC in partnership with Minerva Foods is in-line with SALIC's strategy to contribute to the national food security objectives through global diversified investments in countries with competitive advantage such as Australia," Sulaiman Al Rumaih, CEO of SALIC group said.

The Brazilian company expects the deal to improve its penetration in niche markets and expand its portfolio of products with greater added value.

SALIC, which was formed in 2011 to secure food supplies for the Kingdom through mass production and foreign investments, owns 31% of the share capital of Minerva.

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Egypt’s Net Foreign Assets Rise in February

Hotels, banks and offices on the Nile River in Cairo (Reuters)
Hotels, banks and offices on the Nile River in Cairo (Reuters)
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Egypt’s Net Foreign Assets Rise in February

Hotels, banks and offices on the Nile River in Cairo (Reuters)
Hotels, banks and offices on the Nile River in Cairo (Reuters)

Egypt’s net foreign assets (NFAs) increased by $1.48 billion in February, marking the second monthly rise this year following consecutive declines in the final three months of 2024, according to data released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Based on official exchange rates provided by the CBE, calculations by Reuters showed that net foreign assets rose to the equivalent of $10.18 billion at the end of February, up from $8.70 billion in January.
A banking source attributed the increase to growing foreign investor purchases of Egyptian treasury bills. January also saw an uptick in foreign assets after the government issued $2 billion in international bonds—the country’s first dollar-denominated bond sale in four years.

Further growth in foreign assets is expected in March after the International Monetary Fund approved a $1.2 billion disbursement to Egypt, following the fourth review of its $8 billion economic reform program signed in March 2024. Last month’s IMF approval also unlocked an additional $1.3 billion under the Fund’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility.

Following Egypt’s fourth currency devaluation in March 2024, the overall net foreign asset position of Egyptian banks swung into surplus by about $14.29 billion in May—the first surplus in nearly 28 months. This turnaround came after the deficit had ballooned to nearly $29 billion by the end of January, just before the central bank’s latest reform measures.

However, the net foreign position of commercial banks alone (excluding the central bank) turned negative again in August due to renewed demand pressures for US dollars, just three months after the broader recovery.

In February, both the central bank and commercial banks recorded an increase in foreign assets. While the CBE’s foreign liabilities also grew during the month, those of commercial banks declined.