Chakib Alj completes Forafric deal as food empire expands across Morocco

Moroccan mogul Chakib Alj has finalized his buyout of Forafric Maroc, wrapping up a turbulent nine-month pursuit marked by heavy debt, court-ordered debt judgments, and a bizarre pivot into drone technology by the target company’s parent firm. Cap Holding, the industrial group chaired by Alj, confirmed that its purchase of a majority stake closed on July 29. 

While neither side disclosed the purchase price, the deal hands Alj control of Tria and Maymouna—two of Morocco’s staple flour and pasta brands. Combined with Cap Holding’s existing Moony, Gato, and Ifoulki lines, the acquisition expands his footprint into pasta and couscous manufacturing while securing his position at the top of a country that consumes 10 million metric tons of wheat each year. The route to closing was far from smooth.

Court judgments complicated Forafric acquisition

Cap Holding first notified Morocco’s Competition Council in March of its plan to buy 68 percent of Forafric Maroc’s stock and voting rights, winning approval the following month. But Alj was already moving fast. By February, he had begun feeding grain into Forafric’s mills in Meknes and Marrakesh to get production running ahead of peak demand during Ramadan.

Then the transaction hit a setback. In May, a Casablanca commercial court ruled against three companies within the Forafric group in favor of state-owned lender Crédit Agricole du Maroc. The court issued two judgments totaling $20.3 million, plus interest, and held grain-trading unit Cerelis jointly liable with Forafric Maroc and Tria Group for $19.4 million of the amount. The deal moved forward again in July after Alj, the seller, and Crédit Agricole reached a settlement. 

Forafric Maroc is the local unit of Nasdaq-listed Forafric Global PLC, a company controlled by investor Yariv Elbaz with operations in Burkina Faso, Mali and Angola. The sale came as the business faced mounting financial pressure. Forafric’s revenue fell 45 percent in the six months through June 30, 2025, to $87.35 million, resulting in a net loss of $10.88 million. Total financial debt exceeded $179 million, following a going-concern warning from auditors who questioned the company’s ability to remain in operation. 

Moroccan mogul Chakib Alj builds North African empire

For Chakib Alj, the takeover caps decades of steady expansion in North Africa’s food sector. After studying in the United States, he returned home in 1987 to head the century-old milling company Société Nouvelle des Moulins du Maghreb. He built out the core business through Le Moulin de Berrechid, Moony, Matahine Bab Mansour, and GSB before building Cap Holding into a broader conglomerate.

Over the years, Alj pushed into packaging with Multisacs, poultry feed with Alf Mabrouk-Cicavi, logistics through ACTL, and clean energy via Adiwatt Maroc. In 2022, Cap Holding acquired Renault’s retail distribution network in Morocco through M Automotive. Today, the group employs more than 3,500 workers across food production, packaging, transport, civil engineering, and renewable energy.