Saudi Arabia’s “Hassanah Investment” pumps $2.4 billion into 3 Emirati assets

DB World and Hasana Investment Company, the investment manager of the General Organization for Social Insurance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which owns one of the largest pension funds in the world, announced an investment of about $2.4 billion, or the equivalent of 9 billion Saudi riyals, in three of DB World’s main assets are in the UAE.

This investment will represent the second tranche of the sale of a minority stake in the group’s shares in Jebel Ali Port, Jebel Ali Free Zone and National Industries Park, after the successful closing of the first tranche deal in June 2022.

Hassana will invest about $2.4 billion in a new joint venture with DB World, which will achieve an economic interest in a stake representing approximately 10.2% of the three UAE assets. The total investment value of these assets is expected to reach about $23 billion.

Together, Jebel Ali Port, Jebel Ali Free Zone and National Industries Park form a best-in-class infrastructure package with a strong long-term growth track record. Together, the three entities form a world-class integrated supply chain and logistics ecosystem for more than 9,000 companies from around the world, serving more than 3.5 billion global consumers. The three assets generated initial revenues of $1.9 billion in 2021.

Following the closing of the second tranche transaction on December 19, 2022, the business of the three assets will remain fully integrated into the DBworld group, with day-to-day operations, customers, service providers and employees unaffected.

Saad bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadhli, CEO of Hasana Investment Company, said, “The company’s business is expected to continue to grow in the future due to the combination of favorable demographic factors, the growth of the region’s economies and the large investments in it, in addition to our expectations of a boom in trade exchange between developing countries in Asia and Africa.” Hasana, in its management of the institution’s investment assets, is based on a long-term strategy that is constantly reviewed and updated, through which we seek to maximize returns on the institution’s investments according to an acceptable level of risk.