Swicorp Joussour Company, a Saudi joint stock company capitalized at SR 2.67 billion ($712 million) managed by Swicorp, announced on Monday that it has acquired a strategic stake in RAK Ghani Glass LLC in a joint venture with RAK Investment Authority, JS Group and Ghani Glass Ltd. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. RAK Ghani is in the process of setting up a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical glass plant that will be the first of its kind in the GCC region. The plant's initial annual capacity will be forty five thousand tons (equivalent to 600 million light-weight pharma grade bottles). The company plans to supply the product in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. RAK Ghani is situated on 100,000 square meters of land in Ras Al-Khaimah's industrial zone, located in the north of the United Arab Emirates, and is expected to be commissioned by October 2008 with commercial production expected to commence by December 2008. RAK Ghani also plans to expand the plant's capacity in the future and is also considering developing other glass-related products. Shahid Khan, investment director, Swicorp Private Equity, said: “The global pharmaceutical packaging industry is worth around $30 billion and the demand is expected to continue rising, especially in developing markets. We believe RAK Ghani is ideally positioned to capture this demand growth for light-weight, high-quality pharmaceutical bottles across the GCC, Asia and European markets.” Faysal Hamza, executive director, Swicorp Private Equity, noted: “This is Joussour's second investment in the glass sector and we continue to believe in the sector. In particular, we believe that high-quality pharma bottling has strong potential in the MENA region. Moreover, we would like to express our gratitude for the trust and confidence the RAK Investment Authority and other stakeholders in the plant have placed in Swicorp Joussour Company.” Imtiaz Ahmed Khan, CEO of RAK Ghani, said: “We are pleased to partner with Swicorp Joussour Company and we are confident they will add significant value to this project. The team is working very hard on completing the project and we are on schedule to start production by December 2008.” Swicorp has an extensive track record of pioneering transactions across the MENA region over the last 20 years. With the relocation of Swicorp's group headquarters to Riyadh, and its extensive network of offices in Tunis, Dubai and Algiers, a wealth of in-depth local knowledge and expertise is provided, plus its Geneva presence (offering financial advisory services) and proximity to major European financial centers provides access to international corporations and leading edge expertise. __
