Dubai's Drake acquires Saudi firm for $34.1 mln

Dubai’s Drake acquires Saudi firm for $34.1 mln

Drake buys Riyadh-based civil construction firm; Current project portfolio at 8.3 bln dirhams – CEO

April 13, 2011 3:47 by Reuters

Drake & Scull International said it has acquired a Riyadh-based civil construction firm for 128 million riyals ($34.13 million), as the Dubai-based contractor pushes to expand operations in Saudi Arabia.

International Centre for Contracting Co (ICC), which also has offices in Jeddah and Dammam, has a backlog of 800 million dirhams, Drake said in a statement on Wednesday.

This is the second acquisition by Drake in Saudi after it bought 65 percent of Drake & Scull International Saudi WLL for 243 million dirhams in November last year.

“With the last acquisition DSI’s current project portfolio stands at 8.3 billion dirhams ($2.26 billion),” Khaldoun Tabari, CEO of DSI said in the statement. Drake, which specialises in mechanical, engineering and plumbing businesses (MEP), has been rapidly expanding its operations outside Dubai, where house prices have plunged some 60 percent since their peaks in 2008 as a result of the financial crisis.

Drake said that its project wins in Oman, Egypt and Saudi Arabia combined valued to 2.62 billion dirhams in the first quarter of the year.

About 49 percent of the company’s current backlog is in Saudi Arabia. Drake shares closed 0.9 percent lower on the Dubai bourse. (Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Dinesh Nair)