Chakib Alj looks to acquire struggling flour miller Forafric

Morocco’s biggest milling shake-up in years is taking shape around an old-fashioned rescue.

Talks are under way for Chakib Alj, the head of Cap Holding and president of Morocco’s main employers’ federation, to take a controlling stake in Forafric, the Nasdaq-listed flour and pasta producer that has been bleeding cash and wrestling with a heavy debt load.

Industry sources say early-stage due diligence is underway.

The discussions, reported by local outlets Médias24 and TelQuel, come after a bruising first half of 2025 for Forafric, owner of the Tria and Maymouna brands. Revenue fell 45 per cent in the six months to June 30, 2025, while financial debt stood at about $179 million. Market summaries of the company’s interim results put sales at $87.35 million for the period and a net loss of $10.88 million.

Behind the numbers sits a familiar regional story: wheat price volatility, tighter credit and consumers trading down, all hitting a business that relies on high volumes and thin margins. In February 2025, Forafric told investors it had adopted a balance-sheet strengthening strategy focused on Morocco and soft wheat, including plans to divest non-core assets outside Morocco, parts of its durum wheat businesses and logistics activities. Management estimated gross proceeds of $80 million to $100 million. Local reporting said the group had already launched a $29 million asset disposal plan.

Cap Holding has not publicly detailed how any deal would be structured, and Forafric has not announced a binding agreement. Still, the prospect of a takeover is already being read as a consolidation move in an industry that sits quietly at the centre of food-security politics. Morocco regulates parts of the flour chain and keeps a close watch on milling capacity and pricing.

Any transaction also carries a cross-border investor angle. Forafric has traded in New York since 2022, giving it access to capital but also a harsher spotlight when performance dips. The group’s footprint stretches beyond Morocco into parts of sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso, Mali and Angola, a network built during a more expansive phase.

If Cap Holding does step in, it would be betting that scale and operational discipline can stabilise a business under pressure. The deal would also sharpen competition among domestic millers at a time when financing costs remain high and working capital is king. Bankers in Casablanca say the sector has room for rationalisation, but any rescue will need patient money and clear governance.

Chakib Alj is no stranger to those balancing acts. Elected president of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises in January 2020 and re-elected in May 2023, he has built his reputation in milling and broader industry. He runs Cap Holding, a diversified group with more than 3500 employees across milling, agri-food, poultry farming, plastics, tourism, distribution and civil engineering, according to the employers’ federation.

His career began in 1987 running Société Nouvelle des Moulins du Maghreb, a long-established milling company, before expanding into additional mills and brands. Over time, he added packaging through Multisacs, poultry and feed via Alf Mabrouk Cicavi, logistics through ACTL and renewables with Adiwatt Maroc. In 2022, his group took over the Renault distribution network in Morocco.

That mix of staples and logistics makes Alj a plausible bidder for a troubled agribusiness. Yet the politics of the move are delicate: as the public face of Moroccan employers, he will be watched closely on pricing, employment and any reshaping of Forafric’s African assets.

Markets will now watch whether the talks become a signed deal, or another near miss in a sector where wheat, debt and public sensitivity rarely leave much room for error.