How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience? 

Almarai is the world’s largest vertically integrated dairy company, with operations across ninecountries including all the GCC counties, Egypt, Jordan, Romania, North America (California and Arizona) and South America, Argentina. Almarai has been recognised as the fourth most valuable dairy company worldwide in 2024 by Brand Finance and we rank number eleven in market capitalisation vs global F&B players including Coca-Cola, Nestle, PepsiCo and others.

Our diverse operations spread in four continents and thus the legal risks and uncertainties follow the geographies in which we operate. The country and geography mix offer Almarai a balanced approach on market and associated legal risks. Our learnings from the recent Covid and Russia/Ukrainian conflict on how to deal with force majeure clauses and unforeseen circumstances helped us navigate successfully and with minimal interruption the Red Sea crisis as our existing supply arrangements provided for such risks and alternative transportation arrangements. Establishing also long-term and trusted relationships with outside counsels and receiving regular updates on the key risks and legal developments facilitated a smooth planning and management of legal issues. Almarai’s legal strategy is mirroring our business strategy and legal is very much linked with the risk function by constantly reviewing and contributing to the Almarai Group risk-heat map. All strategic pillars of our fiveyear business plan are replicated in the Almarai Group Legal strategy and specific actions and accountability is put behind our delivery plans.

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently? 

The legal team worked closely with the business development and strategy team on the acqusisition of the 100% of a Joint Venture Almarai had with PepsiCo in Jordan and Egypt, the acquisition of a frozen logistics business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is currently negotiating a significant joint venture in the poultry business with a leading US company.

How have you integrated technology into your legal processes, and what impact has this had on efficiency and compliance?

We have been using GenAI to review and analyse contracts, to identify potential risks, anomalies or non-compliance with specific clauses or regulations. AI helps the legal team quickly review large volumes of contracts and flag critical issues for further examination especially during due diligence processes in M&A and other business transactions. We are also using automated technology tools in the process of generating legal documents such as contracts and have established a digital signing and archiving process. By providing relevant input and parameters, the AI can create customised and legally sound documents, saving time and reducing human error.

What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in the region over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?

There are significant legal developments in the region over the last couple of years. Huge transformation in the laws, new company law in the KSA, new personal data privacy rules in line with the European standards, a new civil code has been introduced in the KSA and competition rules become stricter with the regulators seeking also enforcement actions. While this huge legal transformation takes place, businesses need to adapt and embrace the changes in a manner that does not disrupt growth potential, and regulators have to ensure compliance in a gradual manner as all these changes require the necessary mindset change. The Almarai group legal team is ready to implement these changes in close alignment and collaboration with business.