Louis Dreyfus to sell 45 per cent stake to Abu Dhabi wealth fund

DUBAI: One of the world’s biggest grain exporting houses signed an agreement on Wednesday to sell a 45% stake to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, both companies announced.

The development comes as the United Arab Emirates — a federation of seven desert sheikhdoms — seeks to improve its food security in the face of growing global challenges such as climate change.

We are pleased to announce our strategic partnership with @Adq_Official, as long-term partners and investors with a common vision to shape the #futureoffood. https://t.co/NmjLusrBkk pic.twitter.com/CmwliFTf1V

— Louis Dreyfus Company (@WeAreLDC) November 11, 2020

Louis Dreyfus Company, a family-owned commodities trading giant, reached the deal to sell an indirect equity stake to Abu Dhabi’s ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies.

Louis Dreyfus also said that it signed a long-term supply agreement with the state-owned company to sell agricultural goods to the UAE.

The decision to sell a big stake in the family company marks “a milestone” in Louis Dreyfus’ decades-long strategy, said chairperson Margarita Louis-Dreyfus.

ADQ hailed the agreement as a “strategic” move for the UAE, which, with its desert soil and searing heat, imports some 90% of its food from abroad, leaving the country acutely vulnerable to food shortages caused by erratic weather and regional instability.

“Food and agriculture is an attractive, core sector for ADQ to generate financial returns,” said ADQ’s chief executive, Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi.

Louis Dreyfus “will further accelerate the progress we have already made this year in significantly expanding ADQ’s food and agriculture portfolio," Alsuwaidi added.