Saudi Grains Organisation (Sago), the state entity running a portfolio of flour mills and animal feed factories in the kingdom, said it is moving on to the next stage of its privatisation with the initiation of a bidding process. The company concluded the “qualification phase” for potential investors, it said in a statement posted on its website on Sunday. The bidding process for the flour-milling companies will begin on July 31 when Sago will invite requests for proposals from potential investors, according to HSBC Middle East, which is advising the firm on the deal. The bidding phase of the deal, however, is limited to “qualified bidders” who, after conducting financial due diligence on the company’s assets, will submit their final bids, the company said, without indicating how many qualified investors it is inviting for the bidding round or when it expects to receive offers. The privatisation of Sago, identified among the very first government-controlled enterprises as part of Saudi Arabia's privatisation programme, has received interest from international agricultural firms such as US-based Archer Daniels Midland and fellow American firm Bunge, according to Reuters. However, the lengthy privatisation process may have discouraged some potential investors, it added. Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's largest economy, plans to eventually raise as much as $200 billion (Dh734bn) through privatisation as part of its Vision 2030 economic roadmap aimed at expanding the private sector and diversifying revenue streams of the world’s top oil exporter to reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons. The National Center for Privatisation & PPP was set up in 2017 to oversee sales of public assets and forge public-private partnerships. Separately, the kingdom wants to raise another $100bn through the sale of a 5 per cent stake in state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco. The wave of privatisation deals in the country will raise $10bn by 2020 as the kingdom presses on with its economic transformation plan, according to a study by global law firm Hogan Lovells. Flour milling is among industries including mining, health and education marked by Riyadh for privatisation under the Vision 2030 programme. The four flour-milling companies under Sago represent an “attractive opportunity” for the private sector to invest in one of the largest flour markets in the Middle East and North Africa with “high and appealing” growth rates, the company said.