AD Ports enters South America with purchase of Brazil’s CLI

• AD Ports buys CLI for $835m
• First entry into South America
• Deal still subject to approval

UAE logistics company AD Ports Group has acquired Corredor Logística e Infraestrutura (CLI), a Brazilian port terminal operator, for AED3.1 billion ($835 million).

The purchase allows the Abu Dhabi group to enter the South American market, supporting its plan to develop a new East-West trade route linking Brazil to the Indian subcontinent, east Africa and southeast Asia.

AD Ports acquired CLI from joint owners Macquarie Asset Management and IG4 Capital, it said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX)

CLI owns 100 percent of CLI Norte, which operates a grains terminal at the Port of Itaqui on the northeast coast of Brazil, and 80 percent of CLI Sul, which operates a sugar export terminal at the Port of Santos on the southeastern coast.

“The transaction extends our international reach for the first time into Latin America, and deepens our growing agrifoods activities, one of our core verticals,” said Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, group CEO,  AD Ports.

In 2025, CLI handled a combined 17 million tonnes of agricultural bulk cargo such as such as grains, oilseeds and animal feed, and generated revenue of AED654 million. CLI senior management will remain in place.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory and antitrust approvals.

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The purchase of CLI is AD Ports’ largest acquisition to date, following its AED2.7 billion purchase of Spain’s Noatum in 2023 and AED 1.9 billion acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Dubai-based Global Feeder Shipping in 2024.

Last month, AD Ports reported a 41 percent year-on-year increase in net profit to AED653 million, driven by a 25 percent jump in revenue to AED5.8 billion.

The port operator is 75 percent owned by ADQ, a unit of L’imad, an Abu Dhabi sovereign investment holding company. Its shares fell 1 percent to close at AED4.48 on Tuesday, down 6 percent in the year to date.