Saudi Arabia's Almarai has acquired the food and beverage business of Jordanian conglomerate Hammoudeh for SR263m ($70.1m).

Almarai, which operates in the dairy, poultry, bakery, infant-nutrition and juice sectors, carried out the transaction through its Teeba Investment for Developed Food Processing Company subsidiary.

Hammoudeh Food Industries is the food and beverage manufacturing arm of the Hammoudeh conglomerate, which is also active in sectors such as agri-business and chemicals.

The family business was established in Amman in the 1960s as an animal feed company and diversified over the decades by investing in the poultry and dairy farm sectors. Today, the food and beverage operation has a range of products covering dairy, juices, poultry and eggs.

In a statement announcing the deal, Almarai described Hammoudeh Food Industries as "a well-established dairy and cheese business, with a long heritage of over 50 years in the Jordanian market".

Almarai added: “This acquisition strengthens Almarai’s position in Jordan and aligns with the company’s broader growth strategy announced earlier this year to maintain sustainable growth in core markets and geographies.

“By acquiring Hammoudeh Food Industries, Almarai will enhance its ability to better serve customers in the region, expand its operations and product range and leverage operational scale in Jordan to drive both sales growth and profitability.”

Almarai, was founded in 1976 by Prince Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer.

It was announced in February that local conglomerate Savola Group was to distribute its stake in Almarai to some of its shareholders, following its launch of a SR6bn rights issue.

Savola formerly held a 34.52% share in Almarai but decided to sell its stake “to eligible shareholders”, it said in a statement.

A year earlier, Almarai bought the remaining share of International Dairy and Juice Limited, its joint venture with PepsiCo, for SR255m. Almarai now has 100% ownership of IDJ, having purchased PepsiCo’s 48% stake.