The alliance, which also involved the Lebanese-born businessman Nicolas Toni-Salame, consists in the joint creation of the “AudingIntraesa Middle East LLC” engineering firm to which the Catalan engineering leader will bring its extensive experience in the planning and monitoring of large infrastructures while Al Husam give financial support to local development and construction capabilities in EPC projects (“turnkey”).
From Suma Capital’s entrance in Auding and its subsequent merger with Intraesa, engineering which once was linked to the Comsa Group, the resulting company is passionate about international development. Thus, the 2012 budget foresees that the total annual turnover of 40% will come from abroad. The sharp decline in domestic public tenders is pushing Spanish engineering firms to accelerate their international development. AudingIntraesa has been working in Latin America for over 10 years (mainly in Mexico and Brazil), and this joint venture in the UAE will provide access to new markets where its technical expertise to work on large infrastructure projects is essential.
The Al Husam Group, a construction company established in 1977 in UAE, focuses its activities in the procurement of works offering EPC solutions (design and construction) through strategic alliances with specialised companies, both American and European. With its extensive experience in the UAE, the Al Husam Group has expanded its market to Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Erbil (in northern Iraq). The group, with a workforce of over 5,000 employees and a turnover of approximately 600 M USD specialises in the construction of civil works and projects related to the oil industry in the region.
The agreement extends to all geographic areas where Al-Husam is present, although in the first stage, the focus will be on Abu Dhabi and Qatar where there are strong investment plans. In both places there are ambitious master plans until 2030. The case of Abu Dhabi it is focused mainly on urban development (e.g. Khalifa City, Al Raha Beach, etc.) also including urban transport projects (metro, trams, etc.). With regarding to Qatar, there will be huge investment in ‘Qatar Vision 2030’, especially after the award of the Football World Cup in 2022, which to date, the infrastructure investment evaluation stands at about 100 billion dollars, mainly in high speed transport, metro (e.g. Doha) and a road plan, areas in which AundingIntraesa has great experience.
Funds advised by Suma Capital, a Private Equity firm based in Barcelona, focused on the development of medium-sized Catalan businesses, which recently appointed Antonio Sagnier as a member of its board of directors, the founder and former president of the PrivatBankDegroof bank, are invested in leading companies in their respective activities in order to promote organic growth processes, especially through internationalisation, as well as inorganic growth, through acquisitions and mergers with competitors.
