Saudi Arabia's Almarai, the largest dairy company in the Gulf region by market value, said it had signed an initial deal to take over a Jordanian beverage firm as part of an expansion plan.
Almarai would buy 75 per cent of Taibah's Investment and Advanced Food Company, a dairy and juice manufacturer, and finalise after it conducts a legal, technical and financial audit of the firm, it said.
The deal comes one week after Almarai said it would buy Egypt's International Company for Agricultural Industrialisation Projects (Beeaty).
Almarai did not say how much it would spend to take over the Jordanian firm. It would pay about $112 million (Dh411m) to buy Beeaty, Al Madinah reported on August 20.
Almarai, which has been diversifying its revenues through acquisitions, has earmarked six billion Saudi riyals (Dh5.8bn) for investments up to 2013 to expand its business outside of the Gulf region.
The firm's second-quarter profit rose 42.3 per cent on higher sales after it expanded regionally.
The number
75%: Of Taibah's Investment and Advanced Food Company would be bought by Almarai, the largest dairy company in the region. It did not say how much it would pay for the company