The hugely successful Saudi-based Al Zamil is one of the Kingdom’s largest private enterprises, spanning diversified industrial and commercial interests. This covers everything from air-conditioning manufacturing to food processing, steel fabrication and travel services. There is also a banking and investment division, bringing the total number of employees to 8000. The family has a 25% stake in the Bahrain-based Energy Centre Company. This could prove a huge windfall given the region’s growing power demands, with the stake adding an additional US$200m to the family’s wealth.
The group was founded by the late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Hamad Al Zamil, a Saudi Arabian entrepreneur, who established a modest trading entity selling food items and textiles in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the 1930s. Later, he expanded his business successfully into real estate investments in Saudi Arabia. Zamil Group’s directors now comprises 12 sons, led by chairman Mohammed and director Abdulrahman – the latter also sits on the King’s 90-strong advisory council. Khalid Al Zamil is a director of Gulf Navigation Holding which is listed on the Dubai Financial Market.
The group’s Saudi International Petrochemicals is capitalised at US$13bn, its National Power Company at US$55m and its low-cost airline Menajet that has yet to launch successfully (it operates a charter service based out of Beirut) is worth US$50m.
But the group’s real wealth lies in several other ventures, notably the Zamil Industrial Investment division which exports to 70 markets worldwide. The value of the overall GCC market alone is more than US$1bn, or 500,000 tonnes of steel produced yearly. Zamil’s factory in Ras Al Khaimah started operations this year, with a production capacity of 30,000 tonnes, and its steel factory in Vietnam is one the largest in the world.
The group had a turnover of US$741m so far this year, a growth of 31.5% compared to the same period last year. With an aggressive expansion planned in Asia over the next few years, and a 22-year energy contract signed with Saudi petrochemical giant Sabic, the Al Zamil family’s wealth stands to improve over the next decade.
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