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All GCC countries and India: Usher Agro Limited through its 100% subsidiary Usher Worldwide FZE and Prime Trading LLC signed a Joint Venture Agreement with Al Mada Project Management Company and Sohar Food Cluster Company LLC for setting up rice and pulses storage, processing and packaging facility at Port of Sohar. Alpen Capital India Private Limited acted as the sole financial advisor to Usher Agro Limited on this project.
The initial facility will be setup at a total estimated project cost of US$40 million and will contain polishing, grading, blending and packaging unit for 100,000 TPA of premium long grain rice including basmati rice and a state-of-the-art milling unit for 100,000 TPA of pulses. The facility will also contain 25,000 TPA of rice fortification plant under the patented technology provided by PATH - a non-profit organization supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The rice will be fortified with vitamins and minerals to address nutrition requirements and is envisaged to be sold as a premium product and also supplied to the government for welfare activities in the wider MENA region.
The basmati rice products of the facility will be distributed within MENA countries whereas pulses products from the facility will be distributed in India and MENA Countries. The parties expect to commence the operations of the facility by end of FY2016.
The proposed food logistics & processing hub at the Port of Sohar (SIPC) will provide a unique opportunity for the new Joint Venture in a strategic location, capitalizing on direct access to agro/food berth and proximity to many export markets in the GCC and the MENA region", says Mr. Essa Al Ghurair, Promoter & Managing Director, Sohar Food Cluster Company LLC
"We are delighted to partner with Mrs. Manal Abdwani of AMPMC and Mr. Essa Al Ghurair of SFCC to set up a rice and pulses distribution hub at Port of Sohar. India is the largest exporter of rice and net importer of Pulses. The Joint Venture Company aims to participate in this two-way trade with Port of Sohar as hub. We are confident that this project once launched will help in food security efforts of the region and contribute to the creation of significant shareholder value. "says Dr. Vinod Kumar Chaturvedi, Promoter and Managing Director, Usher Agro Limited
"We are extremely delighted that all parties have come to a mutually beneficial agreement to commence the execution of this project. We are proud to be associated with AMPMC, SFCC and Usher Agro Limited and hope that our expertise in the GCC-India corridor will add value to this landmark project at Port of Sohar." says Rohit Walia, Executive Chairman, Alpen Capital India Private Ltd and Alpen Capital (ME) Limited
Sameena Ahmad, Corporate Affairs
Telephone +971 (0)4 363 43 00 e-mail: sameena.ahmad@alpencapital.com
Alpen Capital India Private Ltd - www.alpencapital.com
About
Alpen Capital India Private Limited established operations in India in 2009 with offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Alpen Capital India Private Limited provides an entire range of merchant banking services to its Indian clients including issue management services, investment advisory services such as mergers & acquisitions advisory, Debt and Equity advisory and Debt Syndication. Alpen Capital India Private Limited has associated offices in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.
Al Mada Project Management Company
AMPMC is a Limited Liability company incorporated in the Sultanate of Oman, specializing in managing projects and investments in various economic sectors: industry, real estate and services. The main promoters of this company have extensive experience and local knowledge of food sector and healthcare sector in Sultanate of Oman.
Sohar Food Cluster Company LLC
SFCC is an Omani Limited Liability company that specializes in investing in the value chain of the food sector; namely food infrastructure, food logistics and food processing. Through its plans for a proposed food logistics & processing hub at the Port of Sohar (SIPC), SFCC is focusing on the overall development of value chain of projects considering the availability of dedicated infrastructure at competitive prices, robust food demand in the area, and strong financial projections for a number of identified projects.
Usher Agro Limited - www.usheragro.com
Usher Agro Limited (the "Company") is amongst the largest agri-food processing companies in India and engaged in milling and processing of rice (basmati and non-basmati), wheat (flour, maida, suji, bran etc) and Pulses in Northern India. The Company is listed on BSE Limited ('BSE') and National Stock Exchange ('NSE'). The Company's rice and wheat mills are located in the states of Uttar Pradesh ('UP') and Bihar with current capacity of 1,081,440 tons per annum ('TPA') for rice, 125,400 TPA for wheat, 105,600 TPA of Pulses and 23,100 TPA of Pulses Flour. Besides milling, the Company has set up a 1,500 TPA rice fortification plant, the technology for which has been provided by PATH - a non-profit organization supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Company through its subsidiary Usher Eco Power Limited has recently entered into procurement agreement with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for supplying high quality tire grade precipitated Silica. Usher Agro Limited has become the first company in the World to set up a commercial scale plant, in collaboration with open innovation team of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, for producing high quality tire grade silica from Rice Husk Ash generated by burning Rice Husk (outer cover of the Paddy) in the boiler of rice husk fired biomass power plant.
© Press Release 2015
