MOROCCO – Flour miller Forafric Maroc, a fully-owned subsidiary of Forafric Global PLC has declared its plans to acquire 90% of the share capital and voting rights of Société Industrielle de Minoterie du Sud (SIMS).

According to Forafric, the move should enable it to obtain SIMS’s factory, a public limited company based in Marrakech which has a daily crushing capacity of 300 tonnes of common wheat and a storage capacity of 15,000 tonnes of cereals.

Ecofin Agency reports that the intent by Forafric was notified to the Competition Council of Morocco, an independent institution charged, within the framework of the organization of free and fair competition.

The institution also assures the transparency and equity of economic relations, notably through the analysis and regulation of competition in the markets.

Founded in 1926, Forafric is an industrial group specialized in the milling industry with a complete range of flour and semolina, and secondary processing products such as pasta and couscous.

With 12 industrial units and two logistics platforms, Forafric is the largest milling company in Morocco and exports its products to more than 45 countries.

This acquisition follows a recent move by the company to expand its presence in Mali after acquiring a majority stake in Malian cereal processing company Groupe Sahel in November last year.

According to the company, the investment would enable Forafric to expand in West Africa while strengthening Groupe Sahel’s production capacity and diversifying its product offering. Groupe Sahel has a production capacity of 600 tonnes per day and is famously known for its Lafia brand.

In addition, Forafric stated that acquiring Groupe Sahel would combine the local expertise of Groupe Sahel with the century-old know-how of the Moroccan milling company.

Forafric’s acquisitions follow its recent partnership with Alapala, one of the leading brands in flour milling equipment and mill projects, to expand three of its existing mills in Morocco as well as build three new mills at a total cost estimated at MAD 1 billion (US$99.5 million).

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