Infra Invest, Investment Advisor of ARIF Fund, and Holmarcom Group announced today the acquisition by ARIF Fund of 20% ownership position in Holmarcom subsidiary Mass Céréales Al Maghreb.
Mass Céréales is operating two terminal concessions for grain handling and storage in the ports of Casablanca and Jorf Lasfar (approx. 100km away from Casablanca) in Morocco.
Previously, Holmarcom Group partnered in 2012 with Union Invivo, France’s largest agricultural cooperative, by selling 20% of the capital of Mass Céréales Al Maghreb.
This new partnership will allow Holmarcom, Invivo, and ARIF Fund to combine their complementary expertise in order to develop their presence in Africa, through the development of grain handling facilities.
Moreover, this sale will allow Holmarcom Group to support its investment and growth policy in particular throughout Africa.
About Holmarcom
With over 50 years of history, Holmarcom Group is organized around five main areas of activity: Finance, Agribusiness, Distribution and Logistics, Air Transport and Real-Estate. The majority of its subsidiaries are leaders in their businesses, and two of them are listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange.
Since its inception, Holmarcom has made the strategic choice of diversification, operating in key sectors of the economy in Morocco. Under the leadership of its president M. Mohamed Hassan Bensalah, the family group follows its investment policy in value-creating businesses for its subsidiaries and for Morocco, and accompanying major modernization projects of the Kingdom of Morocco.
About Invivo
InVivo is a French agricultural cooperative which gathers 223 cooperative members and operates in four areas: seeds and agricultural supplies, animals’ health and nutrition, grain storage and sale, and specialized ecological distribution.
By its consolidated revenues of € 6.1 billion (2012-2013), of which 40%+ earned abroad, InVivo is the first French agricultural cooperative group and the seventh at European level. The Group comprises 6,663 employees in France and in 18 countries worldwide, with nearly 57% of employees working outside France.
InVivo has two main missions: to promote the potential of agriculture to produce more and better, and to create value for its members and their customers, and for agriculture.
About Infra Invest and ARIF
Infra Invest, a subsidiary of RMA Capital, is a Morocco-based Management Company for investment funds specializing in infrastructure projects and assets in Africa.
ARIF is a pan-African investment fund, sponsored by RMA Watanya, and whose other founding limited partners are European Investment Bank, African Development Bank, Proparco, International Finance Corporation and BIO (Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries). The Fund is dedicated to companies and infrastructure projects particularly in the sectors of Energy, Environment, Ports, Transportation and Industry. ARIF investment tickets vary in the range of 5 to 15 Euro million.