Terminals in Egypt, Angola and Tanzania operated by AD Ports Group (ADX: ADPORTS) are due to pass into the full ownership of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund L'imad Holding by October 9, as the fund prepares what Bloomberg reported is likely to be tens of billions of dollars of spending on ports outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Settlement of L'imad's buyout offer is expected no later than that date, AD Ports has said, after which the company will delist from the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on a date still to be confirmed. That will remove one of the Gulf's largest listed port operators from public markets and end the regular disclosure that came with the listing.

What follows is less clear. L'imad, chaired by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan, has not announced a spending plan. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said the outlay would go on new port infrastructure outside the strait under a United Arab Emirates (UAE) strategy the government calls "Zero Hormuz". Fujairah, on the Gulf of Oman, is expected to be the focus.

It is not yet known what share of that capital, if any, will reach AD Ports' African operations. The company signed agreements worth $251mn to upgrade a multipurpose terminal at the Port of Luanda in Angola. It holds 30% of a joint venture with India's Adani Ports (NSE: ADANIPORTS) that bought 95% of Tanzania International Container Terminal Services in Dar es Salaam for $39.5mn. In Egypt it is developing the $200mn Safaga terminal on the Red Sea and has moved to take control of Alexandria Container & Cargo Handling Company (EGX: ALCN).

Full ownership is intended to make further deals easier. It would let AD Ports pursue investments and acquisitions without the funding constraints or short-term return expectations of public markets, The National reported. L'imad said the offer gave shareholders "an attractive opportunity to realise certain and immediate value".

The fund is also looking beyond its own balance sheet. L'imad Capital, one of its units, is preparing to raise money from outside investors, Bloomberg reported on September 29.

L'imad took over state fund ADQ, now its wholly owned subsidiary, in January and manages about $300bn, according to Global SWF data. It already owned 75.42% of AD Ports through ADQ and on August 17 offered AED6.25 ($1.70) a share for the rest, a 23% premium to the previous close that valued the company at more than AED31.2bn ($8.6bn), according to Reuters calculations. ADQ will pay an estimated AED7.8bn ($2.1bn) for the remaining stake, AGBI calculated.

AD Ports sits in L'imad's ports and logistics platform alongside Etihad Rail and courier Aramex (DFM: ARMX). UAE Foreign Trade Minister Thani Al Zeyoudi said in June that the country was "moving toward having zero Hormuz dependency".

ADQ, now part of L'imad, also agreed in 2024 to invest $35bn in developing Ras el-Hekma on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, the largest foreign investment deal in that country's history.