By: AGBI

Elite Co, the logistics arm of the UAE’s Green Dome Investments, has acquired Transcorp International, a cold-chain business that has headquarters in Dubai and operates across Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Qatar.

“This is one of the largest acquisitions we’ve done in under four years,” Elite’s CEO Hisham Albahar told AGBI. “If you’re not in Saudi, some would argue you’re not really in the GCC. It’s definitely an important market for us in which we will invest quite a bit in the near future.”

Cold-chain logistics is a highly specialised segment of the supply chain that manages the transport and storage of temperature-sensitive goods, from origin to end consumer, under refrigerated or controlled conditions.

The cold storage market in Saudi Arabia is expected to reach a projected revenue of more than $6 billion by 2030 from just over $2 billion in 2024, according to research from consultants Grand View Research. Growth is expected to be driven by Vision 2030 reforms, infrastructure investment and demand from e-commerce, food and pharma.

“We are definitely going to be looking at more opportunities in the market over the very short term. We know the market is ripe for consolidation.” Albahar said. “This includes an acquisition in Saudi Arabia and a further deal in the GCC”.

GDI has invested over $120 million since 2017 to buy four regional logistics operators. One of these is LogX, which is backed by shareholders including Sisco Holding, a publicly listed infrastructure investment company in Saudi Arabia.

Albahar said the focus for the next five years will “primarily be on the GCC” but he added: “if there is an opportunity we might go slightly wider to the Middle East, but not beyond that.”

The transaction is expected to close in the next few weeks when GDI acquires CE-Ventures’ equity stake in Transcorp. CE-Ventures is the corporate arm of Sharjah-based Crescent Enterprises, which first invested in Transcorp in 2018 to help scale the company.

Elite and Transcorp will work across five GCC countries, managing a combined fleet of over 1,500 vehicles and 27 warehouses.