Abraaj Group, a leading investor operating in global growth markets, has announced the acquisition, through one of its Funds, of a stake in La Flèche Bleue Algérienne SPA (FBA), a leading Algerian company specializing in transportation and logistics services.
The move marks Abraaj’s first foray into the Algeria, the biggest African country by land area. “FBA is our inaugural investment in Algeria and we are excited about entering Africa’s largest country by area and unlocking the immense local potential that exists in the country,” said Ahmed Badreldin, Partner and Head of MENA at The Abraaj Group. “The key opportunity for the logistics sector in Algeria is intrinsically linked to the underlying growth of the industries that it services. From agribusiness to FMCG, many of FBA’s clients are representative of the best-performing sectors in the country and display double-digit annual growth rates.”
Ahmed believes the current economic trends and potentials inherent within Algeria offers an array of opportunities in the long term. “This creates a long-term requirement for a strong logistics offering to complement the fast growth of Algeria’s economy and the rapid rise of its middle and consumer class.”
Headquartered in the Algerian city of Skikda, FBA began operations in 2004, servicing companies and transporting merchandise of various sectors including agribusiness, FMCG, the beverage industry, and construction materials. It is the largest company offering logistic services in Algeria and operates through long-term contracts with global clients.
Potential for faster, more sustainable growth
With Algeria’s transportation sector largely untapped, Alexandre Hamadouche, Director at The Abraaj Group, believes the investor can expect a quicker growth trajectory, as well as a potential opportunity for market domination. “The country’s transportation and logistics industry remains largely under-penetrated and deregulated, allowing for strong potential to drive long-term growth. Abraaj will draw on our global experience to support FBA in its development, from a sizeable transportation business to a fully-fledged 3PL player able to handle physical flows throughout the supply chain of diverse verticals.”
A welcome expert
Abraaj will bring significant expertise to FBA from the success of its prior investments in the global logistics sector, including Aramex in the Middle East, ARG in Mexico, Rentandes in Colombia, and Crossland Logistics in South East Asia. FBA will additionally benefit from Abraaj’s strong networks across the MENA region and its valuable experience in the development of regional businesses.
Mahfoud Ameur Zaimeche, Founder and CEO of La Flèche Bleue Algérienne, said: “We welcome this important partnership with Abraaj given their excellent track record of supporting regional businesses and investing in the logistics sector across growth markets, globally. We look forward to having the Abraaj team join our board, and working closely with them on executing our ambitious development plan as we diversify into other sectors.”
Abraaj’s investment will enable the expansion of FBA’s footprint into other verticals of the logistics business, providing the company with ample resources and funds to further grow its market share amongst full-service third-party logistics (3PL) providers in Algeria. With Abraaj’s support, FBA’s growth strategy will focus on expanding its general capacity, developing more sophisticated logistics services, strengthening corporate governance standards and implementing a fully integrated reporting system.
