Abu Dhabi Ports acquires Brazilian company CLI for AED 3.1 billion

Abu Dhabi port

 

Abu Dhabi Ports acquires Brazilian company CLI for AED 3.1 billion

Abu Dhabi Ports Group today announced its acquisition of Corridor Logistica e Infrastrutura (CLI), an independent operator of bulk agricultural cargo terminals in Brazil, in a deal valued at AED 3.1 billion, marking its official entry into the South American markets through a strategic expansion deal.

CLI is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, and operates two of Brazil’s most important bulk agricultural export terminals under two long-term concession agreements: CLI SOL terminal in the port of Santos, a leader in sugar exports and the main gateway for corn and soybean exports; and CLI Norte terminal, the vital gateway for grain exports in the port of Itaqui within Brazil’s “Northern Arc,” the strategic geographic region overlooking the Amazon basin, which is a vital logistics hub and a promising corridor for agricultural exports.

In 2025, the ports and terminals in northern Brazil recorded the fastest growth rates in the country. The two terminals play a key role in connecting global markets with production areas in Brazil, which is the world's largest exporter of sugar and one of the largest exporters of grain.

Abu Dhabi Ports Group has agreed to acquire CLI from its owners, Macquarie Asset Management and IG4 Capital.

CLI owns 100% of CLI Norte, which operates a terminal in the port of Itaqui, and an 80% stake in CLI Sol, which operates a terminal in the port of Santos.

The total value of the acquisition deal reached AED 3.1 billion (equivalent to $835 million), and the deal is expected to be completed during the second half of this year, subject to fulfilling the usual conditions for closing deals, including obtaining regulatory and antitrust approvals. It was agreed that the senior management team of CLI would continue to perform the duties of managing the company.

The acquisition of CLI represents a qualitative leap in the journey of Abu Dhabi Ports Group, placing it among the leading independent operators of bulk agricultural cargo terminals in South America, enabling it to gain strategic access to a wide range of new opportunities that benefit its business sectors, particularly the maritime and shipping sector, the logistics sector, the economic cities and free zones sector, and the digital sector.

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports Group, said: “Our acquisition of CLI and our official entry into the Latin American markets represents a milestone in the Group’s growth journey, in line with its strategic direction to expand its global presence and enhance its growing activities in the agri-food sector, one of our most important business areas.”

Abu Dhabi Ports Group’s entry into Brazil supports the group’s geographic expansion strategy and efforts to develop a major new trade hub linking East and West, connecting South America’s largest economy with the Indian subcontinent, East Africa and Southeast Asia.

The UAE is currently engaged in advanced negotiations with the Mercosur trade bloc in South America, which includes Brazil, to conclude a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

For his part, Fernando Lohmann, president of Macquarie Asset Management in Brazil, said that the Brazilian agricultural export sector continues to demonstrate great resilience and a remarkable ability to consolidate the country's position among the world's leading suppliers of agricultural goods.

Paulo Todescan Matos, co-founder and managing director of IG4 Capital, said: “Since becoming a shareholder in CLI, we have continued to focus on enhancing its operational capabilities, expanding its strategic presence, and supporting its activities to achieve sustainable growth in the bulk agricultural exports sector in Brazil. We are confident that Abu Dhabi Ports Group is the most suitable strategic owner to build on this momentum, given its experience in enabling global trade, its capabilities in the infrastructure sector, and its long-term vision that will support the company’s growth.”

In December 2025, the group’s Karachi Multipurpose Gateway Terminal Limited entered into a long-term commercial agreement with Louis Dreyfus Pakistan Limited, a subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus, a world leader in agricultural commodity trading and processing, to develop and operate a facility for handling and storing bulk cargo and agricultural commodities at the Port of Karachi, Pakistan.

In January 2025, the group agreed to invest approximately $30 million in the Sarzha grain terminal, a new project within the Kuryk port in Kazakhstan on the Caspian Sea.

Earlier this year, the group signed a 30-year concession agreement to operate the multi-purpose port of Aqaba in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which is a key player in the bulk agricultural commodities sector in the Middle East region, handling more than 3 million tons of grain annually.

The operations of Noatum ports in Spain also play a prominent role in the bulk agricultural commodities sector, with the Tarragona and Sagunto terminals handling around 2 million tons of grain imports annually, with an additional investment of AED 90 million recently announced to upgrade the Tarragona terminal.

In 2025, CLI successfully handled 17 million tons of bulk agricultural goods, generating revenues of AED 654 million and recording earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of AED 360 million.

The acquisition of CLI is the largest deal of its kind for Abu Dhabi Ports Group, followed by the acquisition of the Spanish company Noatum in 2023 in a deal worth AED 2.65 billion, and the purchase of a 51% stake in Dubai-based Global Feeder Shipping (GFS) in early 2024 for AED 1.9 billion.

It is worth noting that Abu Dhabi Ports Group received advice from BTG Pactual on this deal, while AG4 Capital and Macquarie Asset Management received advice from Citi.