EII acquires stake in Leaders Fort Contracting

Emaar Industries & Investments (EII), a member of Emaar Properties, has acquired a significant stake in the UAE-based privately owned Leaders Fort Contracting (LFC), a leader in specialised construction.

EII already has a significant roster of business entities that it supports, all of which offer services in the fast-growing manufacturing and industrial sectors, says a spokesman for EII.

EII will contribute to developing LFC’s business activities and strengthen market share including exploring opportunities for potential partnership on mega-developments in the UAE and expansion to other GCC markets. The company will also support LFC in expanding its footprint into the oil and gas, and military sectors in addition to supporting LFC in building its service portfolio.

Nasser Batha, chief executive officer of Emaar Industries & Investments, says: “The acquisition of a significant stake in Leaders Fort Contracting is a strategic fit to our focus on investing in leading UAE-based companies that have high growth potential.”

“LFC has a strong track record in providing specialised services for the construction sector, which fits well with our investment strategy. As a company with a specific focus on strengthening the industrial and manufacturing sector of the UAE, we will continue to explore such opportunities that add value to our stakeholders, while enabling the growth of our new partners,” he adds.

Mohammed Bazzari, chief executive officer of Leaders Fort Contracting, says: “The partnership with Emaar Industries & Investments will enable us to secure long-term growth through strategic business activities and a wider geographic footprint. Our specialised services are sought after in the market, and we bring over a decade of expertise of working on large-scale projects across the UAE. We are now set to enter a new era of growth, supported by the expert counsel and investment support offered by EII, across all aspects of our operations. The investment will also enable us to create new jobs in our sector.”

Orascom wins $308m Cairo metro contracts

Egypt’s Orascom Construction has won two contracts worth €270 million ($307.75 million) for work on the third phase of Cairo’s third metro rail line.

Orascom will complete the civil package in a consortium with French construction companies Vinci and Bouygues and Arab Contractors, and the track works package in a consortium with TSO, part of France’s NGE Group, and ETF, a subsidiary of Eurovia, Reuters quotes a company spokesman as saying.

The contracts will bring the total value of the company’s share of the third phase of the metro line to €375 million ($419 million). Funding for the third phase is being provided by French and European entities.

The third phase of the metro will stretch across 18 km of tunnelling and viaduct works which will include 15 elevated, grade and underground stations.

Orascom had won an $180-million contract for work on the first phase of the expansion in 2007 followed by contracts worth $140 million for the second phase of the third metro line in 2009.

Nass sees India as promising market

Bahrain’s Nass Industrial Services (NIS) has gained a strong foothold in India’s industrial sector with the successful implementation of a contract from the Reliance Industries conglomerate.

NIS, also known as Nass Mechanical Contracting Company, recently shipped to RIL 36-inch-diameter, 70-mm wall thickness pipe spools of carbon steel and alloy steel with pressure of 273 bar and temperature of 425 deg C service factor under a $10-million contract. A total of 20 km of pipes were supplied.

NIS general manager GK Roy comments: “The job met very critical and severe cyclic service requirements for super saturated steam of Reliance’s J3 project expansion project.”

J3 encompasses the construction of a refinery and petrochemical complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat state.

“The project was completed in record time. Very satisfied, they gave us a repeat order worth $1.8 million of nine pressure vessels which we are executing,” he says, adding, “Each vessel is of 60 tonnes and two will be jacketed.”

Roy says the deals pave the way for greater involvement in the large Indian market. The company has won approval from a major Indian public sector construction firm, Engineers India Limited (EIL), and is also regularly receiving enquiries from prominent firms such as Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petrochemicals.

In its home region, NIS is currently working on a deal worth $26.67 million that entails an electromechanical construction package of Saudi Electricity Company’s PP-13 project. Its scope includes the installation of a gas turbine generator and three heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) packages.

Also in Saudi Arabia, NIS has a $4.53-million contract from Al Qaryan Steel Rolling Mill in the Eastern Province, where it is in the final stages of installing piping and pipe systems. In recent years, the company has worked on several jobs for Sadara including the fabrication and installation of nine tanks and delivery of pipe spools and pipe supports for the propylene oxide plant in Jubail. 

In Bahrain, NIS is building a grinder unit with a 1,500-tonne capacity  for Falcon Cement’s expansion project. The unit is set to be commissioned shortly. It is also working on an Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) project worth $37.14 million where it is fabricating 10 ground storage tanks of 5 million gallons capacity and four elevated storage reservoir units.