The company said in a statement that the plan was inspired by the wise vision of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and by the company’s desire to support the national production efforts through new projects that enhance the contribution of the private sector.
Baladna, in partnership with a group of Qatari investors, will look to complete the offering in the first half of 2018. It has already appointed Ernst and Young and PWC to carry out the necessary offering procedures. Any IPO must gain the approval of official authorities, as well as the regulatory ones.
The company said it plans to start exporting its products in 2019. It is also continuing with the execution of its expansion plan which aims to contribute to the country’s sufficiency efforts, especially following the unjust siege Qatar was subjected to. It highlighted that its strategy seeks self-sufficiency in dairy products, fresh juices, red meat, chicken, eggs, as well as animal feed.
Baladna said that its agricultural and industrial facilities are now well-equipped to achieve those goals and provide the highest-quality products. The Qatari company also noted that it has prepared new production lines for plastic packaging with the help of a German company and can now produce 1mn packages a day, as it gears up its exporting efforts.
The company’s other efforts will see it establish a hatchery, to help cover the needs of local producers and will produce 50mn eggs a year. The broiler poultry farms will also have a production capacity of 42mn chickens a year. The company will also establish a layer poultry farm with a production capacity of 200mn eggs a year. Work on those projects begin this month and they will be ready for production in mid-2019.
Baladna concluded its statement by saying that all its plans are a reflection of the state’s vision in activating national initiatives, adding that it looks to honour the aspirations of the Qatari citizens of achieving food security.