ADEP initiates Brazil's first Shari'ah compliant livestock finance programme for $25 million

Abu Dhabi Equity Partners (ADEP) has successfully initiated Brazil's first Shari’ah-compliant livestock finance programme of $25 million, to fund fattening of 70,000 cattle heads - the metric tonne equivalent of entire U.A.E.'s annual import of beef. ADEP's Brazilian Shari’ah livestock transaction allows a select group of Brazil's "Top 40" cattle feedlot operators to increase their capacity utilization. The financing was structured as a combination of Wakala and Murabaha agreements enabling investors to buy and take title from Rancher, of liquidly traded cattle, insured and stored physically in separate feedlots inspected and supervised by a global monitoring company. Shari’ah-compliant funding of the growing multi-billion US Dollar Halal food industry is a natural yet untapped market segment.