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The group of companies linked to Tunisian businessman Adel Ben Ramadan has entered a new phase in its judicial saga, after a court decided to appoint a judicial administrator to oversee their management — a development that could reshape the map of Tunisia's olive oil sector, according to the Italian trade publication Teatro Naturale, which specializes in covering the olive oil industry.
The outlet reported that the court issued its ruling on June 15, appointing Anis EzzeDDine as judicial administrator and trustee to run «Bi Oliva», following the launch of judicial settlement proceedings on September 25, 2025.
The court also ordered the extension of the observation period imposed on «Bi Oliva» by an additional three months, scheduled to end provisionally on September 26 of the current month, unless another decision is issued.
However, the most significant development, according to the same source, is the expansion of the judicial administration to cover all Tunisian companies linked to the owner of «Bi Oliva», bringing them under the exclusive control of the judicial administrator.
Among these entities is «Borges Organic Oil», a Tunisian company in which Spain's «Borges Agricultural and Industrial Edible Oils» held a minority stake. Official documents reviewed by the publication reportedly showed no changes in the shareholding structure since the beginning of 2024. The report also indicated that the company dispatched its last olive oil shipments to «Borges USA» before Adel Ben Ramadan's flight.
Teatro Naturale suggests that «Borges Organic Oil», alongside «Bi Oliva» and a number of smaller companies, could effectively disappear as part of a restructuring process, replaced by a new entity that could, in its assessment, become one of the largest players in the Tunisian olive oil sector.
This scenario could bring a number of Italian, Spanish and American creditors into the shareholding structure of the new company, rather than limiting their role to that of lenders.
Banque de l'Habitat (B.H. Bank) is identified as the main creditor of «Bi Oliva Med», a state-controlled Tunisian bank. This would effectively place the Tunisian state as an indirect shareholder in the new company to be created from the restructuring of «Bi Oliva» assets.
The Italian publication argues that such an operation could yield an entity with a simpler structure than the current public marketing framework, while strengthening the public sector's footprint in the private olive oil business.
According to the report, the creation of such a company would give Tunisia an additional instrument to operate in international olive oil markets. The Office National de l'Huile (ONH) remains the leading Tunisian public institution active in the sector, playing a pivotal role in the country's external olive oil relations.
However, a commercially oriented company with indirect public participation, emerging from the restructuring of «Bi Oliva» assets, could enjoy greater operational flexibility in its international trade operations compared with the traditional public system.
Teatro Naturale links this scenario to recent tensions surrounding Tunisian olive oil exports, noting that inspections carried out by European authorities, particularly in Italy in recent weeks, have raised questions about certain shipments linked to ONH exports — a situation that has reportedly caused some diplomatic embarrassment for Tunisia.
On the international judicial front, the investigation targeting Adel Ben Ramadan remains open in Italy. The inquiry was launched by the Italian judiciary in Spoleto before being recently transferred to the public prosecutor's office in Genoa. The Italian case is part of a complex file in which Tunisian authorities are working to rebuild the commercial, financial and corporate ties associated with the group, while Italian courts continue their own investigations within their jurisdiction.
Teatro Naturale concludes that the Adel Ben Ramadan file has entered a new phase after months of uncertainty, with judicial proceedings shifting from the search for alternatives to bankruptcy to the actual administration of the companies and their assets. The goal appears to be preserving the industrial and commercial value of the group, even if that means removing its founder permanently from its management.
Should the restructuring scenario and the creation of a new company materialize, the collapse of the group built by Adel Ben Ramadan could, according to Teatro Naturale, become the launch pad for a new player in the Tunisian olive oil sector, with the likely increase of indirect state presence in this strategic activity.
Source: Tunisie Telegraph