Nofoth signs an MoU to acquire 70% of Al Waal Al Bari

Published: 2026-06-30T08:03:02.000Z

The Saudi food and beverage sector keeps quietly reshuffling itself through deals that rarely grab the front pages, and Nofoth Food Products has just added another. The Nomu listed company has signed a non binding memorandum of understanding to explore acquiring a 70 per cent stake in Al Waal Al Bari Beverages.

The Saudi food and beverage sector keeps quietly reshuffling itself through deals that rarely grab the front pages, and Nofoth Food Products has just added another. The company, which trades on Nomu, the Saudi Exchange's parallel market, has signed a memorandum of understanding to explore acquiring a 70 per cent stake in Al Waal Al Bari Beverages. The agreement is non binding and exploratory at this stage, which means it sets out the intent and a framework for negotiation rather than a done deal, with due diligence and final terms still to be worked through. Even so, a controlling stake of that size signals serious ambition on Nofoth's part to broaden its reach beyond its existing lines. The structure of the proposed deal is the part worth dwelling on. A 70 per cent holding would hand Nofoth clear majority control of Al Waal Al Bari, rather than a passive minority position, which tells you the company wants to steer the beverages business and fold it into its own operations rather than simply park capital in it. Memorandums of understanding of this kind are the standard opening move in Saudi corporate acquisitions, granting the buyer a window to examine the target's books, assets and contracts before committing. Nofoth has been clear that the agreement carries no binding obligation yet and that any material developments will be disclosed in line with regulatory requirements, the usual language of a transaction still in its early innings. The strategic logic behind a move like this is straightforward enough. For a smaller, Nomu listed food producer, buying into an established beverages business is a way to diversify revenue, add new product categories and capture more of the consumer's basket without building a beverage operation from scratch. Beverages and packaged food sit naturally alongside one another in distribution, retail relationships and manufacturing know how, so the operational overlap can make integration smoother than a leap into an unrelated sector. If the deal completes, Nofoth would gain ready made production, brands and market presence in a category adjacent to its core, which is precisely the kind of bolt on that can lift a company's growth profile. The timing fits a broader pattern of consolidation in the Saudi market. The kingdom's food and beverage sector has been unusually active on the deals front, with larger players such as Almarai acquiring beverage and dairy assets and a steady stream of smaller transactions reshaping the mid market. Rising domestic demand, a young population and government efforts to localize food production have all made the sector attractive, and companies are increasingly choosing to grow by acquisition rather than waiting to build organically. The regional thread runs through that consolidation story. Across the Middle East and North Africa, and the Gulf in particular, food and beverage businesses are scaling up to meet growing consumption and to compete with international brands, with Saudi Arabia at the center of the activity given its market size and Vision 2030 push on food security. A Nomu listed company reaching for majority control of a beverages firm is a small but telling example of how the kingdom's food sector is steadily maturing from a fragmented field into something more consolidated.