In the 4thquarter of 2008, Almarai made an offer to acquire 100% theshare capital of HADCO, with principal activities of a plantation of grains,dates and fruits; ownership of poultry farms; and production of oliveoil and animal feed. Almarai Board of Directors has sought to buyHADCO for SAR 700 million. HADCO has a strong land bank of 350 sq.km. in the northern region of Saudi Arabia (rich in water reserves) andcould be an alternate production base for Almarai's future activities.

After venturing into the bakery business in 2007, the Almarai Company haslately shown its interest to move into poultry farms through theproposed acquisition of a listed company, Hail Agriculture DevelopmentCompany ('HADCO'), in Saudi Arabia. It is expected that such horizontal expansion willgo a long way in diversifying the revenue base of the Company andfoster growth rates over and above the peers in the market.

,explaining the motive of this acquisition .Do you think the offer price is fair?Explain .