AD Ports spends $300m raising stake in Dubai shipper GFS

AD Ports Group has increased its stake in Dubai-based Global Feeder Shipping (GFS) to 81 percent.

The Abu Dhabi state-backed global ports operator exercised its call option to acquire an additional 30 percent in GFS for AED1 billion ($300 million).

AD Ports had acquired a 51 percent stake in GFS, the world’s fourth-largest container feeder shipping line by capacity, in February 2024. The call option was valid until December 2026.

The acquisition will be funded through a mix of debt and asset monetisation transactions, AD Ports said in a statement.

In November 2022, AD Ports announced plans to acquire an 80 percent stake in GFS for AED2.9 billion, implying an enterprise value of AED3.7 billion.

“Our increased ownership in GFS allows us to deepen its integration within the Group’s portfolio and enables further growth across our shipping business,” AD Ports group CEO Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi said.

GFS ensured an uninterrupted flow of cargo for customers across the GCC region, serving the Indian subcontinent, the Red Sea, the Far East, the Mediterranean and Africa during the Iran war, he said.

In 2025, GFS transported 2.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and made more than 700 voyages covering 89 ports in 54 countries. Since the acquisition in February 2024, it has generated a total cumulative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of around AED2 billion.

• AD Ports enters South America with purchase of Brazil’s CLI
• AD Ports refinances $2.5bn loan with two UAE banks
• AD Ports in talks to lease Egypt’s Red Sea oil storage

Last month, AD Ports reported a 41 percent year-on-year increase in net profit to AED653 million for the first quarter of 2026, driven by a 25 percent jump in revenue.

Overall container feeder shipping revenue rose 17 percent year on year in 2025, supported by the maritime shipping arm Safeen Feeders, Egypt’s Transmar and GFS, and AD Ports. The maritime and shipping cluster generated 51 percent of total 2025 revenue.

AD Ports is 75 percent owned by ADQ, a unit of L’imad, an Abu Dhabi sovereign investment holding company. Its shares fell 0.2 percent to close at AED4.85 on Tuesday, up nearly 2 percent in the year to date.