Adnoc acquires majority stake in Fertiglobe: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has completed a USD 3.62 bn acquisition of OCI Global’s 50% +1 stake in Fertiglobe, the Netherlands-based chemical producer, according to a press release (pdf) shared with EnterpriseAM UAE. The transaction increases Adnoc’s stake in Fertiglobe to 86.2%, with the remaining 13.8% in free float on the ADX.

It’s an OCI + Adnoc break up: Fertiglobe is a JV between Adnoc and the Sawiris-owned OCI. Fertigloble’s current management team will remain unchanged, including CEO Ahmed El-Hoshy, who stepped down from his role at OCI Global to continue his journey at Fertiglobe.

Big boost for ammonia trade plans: Anticipated market advantages from rising demand for low-carbon ammonia are expected to lead to a demand increase surpassing supply growth by an estimated 11 million tons by 2032, according to the statement. Adnoc aims to cover 5% of the global low-carbon hydrogen market by 2030 in line with UAE’s National Hydrogen Strategy.

Shuffling assets: Adnoc will transfer its interests in current and future low-carbon ammonia projects to Fertiglobe at cost, once they are prepared for startup. These include two lower carbon ammonia projects in Abu Dhabi as well as other projects in its global portfolio. The two Abu Dhabi-based projects will add 2 mtpa — more than doubling Fertiglobe’s current merchant ammonia capacity of 1.6 mtpa — and increase its total sellable capacity to 8.6 mtpa of net ammonia and urea combined, in addition to other announced global projects.

It won’t rest until it hits double-digits: Strong double-digit Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for all future growth projects will be the minimum target for the firm as it seeks value-accretive growth to capitalize on the projected global growth in low-carbon ammonia demand to 24 million tons by 2032.

Adnoc is on an expansion mission: AW Shipping — a JV between Adnoc L&S and Wanhua Chemical Group — will purchase USD 250 mn very large ammonia carriers from China’s Jiangnan Shipyard. This is all part of an Adnoc L&S expansion plan revealed ahead of the company’s USD 769 mn IPO last year.

Fertiglobe is also on a growth journey: The fertilizer firm will continue to expand its low-carbon fuels business following its success in securing a EUR 397 mn offtake agreement H2Global program to export 19.5k tons of green ammonia to Europe in 2027. Fertiglobe sent the world’s first ISCC PLUS-certified (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) green ammonia shipment to India from its electrolyzer facility in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone in December. Alongside Adnoc-ADQ JV Ta’ziz, GS Energy, and Mitsui, the firm also signed a shareholder agreement to construct a facility to produce some 1 mn tons of low-carbon ammonia annually in the UAE. The company is currently studying another green hydrogen project in the UAE in collaboration with Masdar and Engie.

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