AD Ports tightens grip on Global Feeder Shipping
The Abu Dhabi group lifts its stake in Dubai's Global Feeder Shipping to 81% with a $300m call option exercise.
Abu Dhabi-listed AD Ports Group has lifted its holding in Dubai-based Global Feeder Shipping (GFS) to 81%, after acquiring an additional 30% stake for AED1.1bn ($300m). The move sees AD Ports exercise a call option agreed as part of its earlier investment in GFS, one of the world's largest container feeder operators.
The transaction values GFS at the same AED3.67bn ($1bn) enterprise value set when AD Ports first moved for control, and the group said the latest purchase would be funded through a mix of debt and asset-monetisation transactions. AD Ports initially agreed to buy 80% of GFS in 2022 — described at the time as its largest ship investment — before closing on a 51% stake in 2024, with an option to raise ownership by the end of 2026.
GFS sits at the core of AD Ports' feeder shipping business alongside Safeen Feeders and Transmar, operating services that link the Gulf with the Indian Subcontinent, the Red Sea, the Far East, the Mediterranean and Africa. The group said GFS carried 2.8m teu in 2025 across more than 700 voyages, serving 89 ports in 54 countries, and that the higher stake would give it greater control and support closer integration with its ports, economic cities, logistics and shipping operations.
