Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG) has secured a contract worth Dh263 million to develop infrastructure at the Khalifa Industrial Zone (Kizad) for Abu Dhabi Ports.
The contract will cover the creation of infrastructure for a 52 square kilometre site, including road, water and sewage networks, electricity supply and a telecoms network.
It will also involve extensive dewatering, excavation and pipe- laying work, and the installation of substations.
HLG has previously completed infrastructure works for Abu Dhabi Ports under a Dh1.04 billion contract that was awarded in 2010.
The infrastructure work will start this month and is due for completion by March 2017.
HLG is a joint venture between Dubai’s Al Habtoor Group and Australia’s Leighton Holdings, which is now known as Cimic.
Cimic paid US$857m for a 45 per cent stake in HLG in 2007, but the value of its equity plummeted following the global financial crisis and it had to shore up its investment with more than $1bn of shareholder loans, guarantees and letters of credit.
In recent years, however, the company’s fortunes have improved.
Last year, HLG broke even as revenues increased 4 per cent to $735.1m and it won $1.8bn of new contracts.
The value of Cimic’s stake in HLG also increased to $384.4m from $345.1m in 2013.
Al Habtoor Group and Cimic have a long-held strategy of preparing HLG for a listing by next year, although that is dependent on continually securing contracts, getting payments from customers and paying down loans owed to Cimic.
In the GCC, the value of contracts awarded this year is set to rise to $172bn from $170.5bn last year, according to Deloitte GCC Powers of Construction report.
About 25 per cent, or $42.5bn, of such contracts are expected to be awarded by the UAE.
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