Bahrain-based Investcorp has announced that it has acquired a minority stake in one of Saudi Arabia’s leading supermarket and hypermarket groups, Bindawood Holding.
Bindawood manages two key brands – Bindawood and Danube – across 40 hypermarkets and supermarkets in major Saudi Arabian cities, including Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah, Riyadh and Khobar.
Today, the company employs more than 7,000 people, Investcorp said in a statement without revealing the value of the acquisition.
The Bindawood brand is focused on the mid-range customer segment and pilgrims in the holy cities while Danube appeals to higher-end customers by stocking higher-price point products, the statement added.
Bindawood Holding has a strategic plan to expand its business aggressively across different cities in the kingdom and plans to open more than 30 hypermarkets and supermarkets in the coming years.
Mohammed Al-Shroogi, Investcorp’s co-CEO, said: “Saudi Arabia is a key market for Investcorp where we are continuously looking for interesting investment opportunities.
“We are very excited about this partnership with Bindawood Holding, a Group that offers an exceptional product in a Saudi Arabian grocery retail market that is currently worth around $45 billion and expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 11 percent over the next four years.”
Dr Abdulrazzaq Bindawood, chairman of Bindawood Holding, added: “Investcorp brings valuable expertise to help us structure our growth across Saudi Arabia and institutionalize the company. We spent a long time evaluating the options available to us and we are looking forward to beginning this new chapter in our history with Investcorp as our partner.”
Bindawood Holding becomes Investcorp’s sixth portfolio company in Saudi Arabia and follows the firm’s acquisition in July 2015 of a majority stake in NDT Corrosion Control Services, Saudi Arabia’s largest industrial testing services company.
Investcorp’s other investments in Saudi Arabia include Leejam, the owner and operator of the fitness chain Fitness Time; Theeb, the car rental business; Al Yusr Industrial Contracting Company, a provider of industrial services outsourcing solutions; and L’azurde, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of gold jewellery.
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