(Bloomberg) -- Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ is among potential suitors looking at a possible bid for Cedrob Group, Poland’s biggest poultry and meat producer, people familiar with the matter said. 

Cedrob is appealing to ADQ as a way to enhance food security in the Persian Gulf, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process is confidential. Initial bids are expected in April, according to one person. 

Bloomberg News reported in February that Cedrob was weighing a potential sale in which it could seek a valuation of about $2 billion. ADQ and other suitors may not bid for Cedrob, and the company may not press ahead with a sale, the people said. 

Representatives of ADQ and Cedrob declined to comment. 

Cedrob, founded in the 1990s, reported net income in 2022 of 412 million zloty ($103.5 million) on sales of 8.15 billion zloty. The company has grown via expansion and acquisitions of local peers into a company with more than 6,300 staff. Cedrob’s shareholders include several Polish families, including the family investment vehicle of Chief Executive Officer Andrzej Gozdzikowski.

ADQ is one of Abu Dhabi’s three main sovereign wealth funds. One of its tasks is to safeguard food security in the United Arab Emirates, especially in the aftermath of Covid. The country imports most of its food because of its desert climate.

In 2020, ADQ bought a stake in European agricultural trader Louis Dreyfus Co. It has also invested in LuLu Group International, which operates one of the Middle East’s largest hypermarket chains.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.