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Drake and Scull Buys Passavant-Roediger for Dh145 million; Eyes More Acquisitions

DUBAI — Contractor and engineering company Drake and Scull International has acquired 82 per cent of Germany-based Passavant-Roediger, a wastewater treatment company, for Dh145 million. DSI said it is eyeing two more acquisitions before the end of the year in Qatar and Kuwait.

The acquisition of Passavant-Roediger marked DSI’s foray into the wastewater, water and sludge treatment business. Khaldoun Tabari, vice-chairman and chief executive officer of DSI said the company’s first acquisition since its listing earlier this year, would generate additional revenue for its other business streams including mechanical, engineering and plumbing, and civil contracting.

“This is a strategic acquisition. We have added services that Passavant-Roediger offers, and we are opening new markets and providing the company with a larger geographical reach.”

Passavant Berger, a unit of publicly-listed Bilfinger Berger, operates in 13 countries across Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Asia.The company is currently working on 25 projects and bidding on more in Egypt, Algeria, Germany, China, UAE and Lebanon with a total contracts value of more than Dh1 billion, and with a backlog value of Dh450 million. Passavant-Roediger also recently bagged a Dh127 million wastewater treatment and sludge digestion plant project in Wadi Shallala, Jordan. Tabari said DSI’s partnership with Passavant-Roediger will bolster its bigger goal of getting a major slice of the underserved wastewater and water treatment industry in the Middle East and Africa region, where approximately less than 50 per cent have proper wastewater treatment and sewerage systems.

He said that about $25 billion is being spent yearly worldwide, with demand to exceed $81 billion by 2012 with the key growth areas being China, India and the Middle East, which are raising their annual investments in wastewater treatment by more than 8 per cent.

“We would be happy to get even just one per cent of the global business,” said Tabari. New acquisitions in Qatar and Kuwait, estimated to be between Dh150 million to Dh200 million are also on the cards for DSI, said Tabari.

rocel@khaleejtimes.com