Union Properties subsidiary in $4.9m deal to provide services at Expo 2020 site

The company's ServeU unit will manage facilities at 14 country pavilions during the six-month event

The UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. ServeU will provide human resources and staffing services for more than a dozen pavilions, which cover a total area of 30,000 square metres. Photo: Department for IShow more

ServeU, a subsidiary of Dubai developer Union Properties, won a contract valued at Dh18 million ($4.9m) to provide services at 14 country pavilions during Expo 2020 Dubai, which begins next month.

As part of the deal, the facilities management company will provide human resources and staffing services for the pavilions, which cover a total area of 30,000 square metres, Union Properties said in a statement on Sunday to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.

“These contracts will open new opportunities for the company to boost its presence, enhance competitiveness in the local and regional markets, as well as highlight our capabilities in maintaining high-quality standards and efficiency in the FM [facilities management] industry,” Khalifa Al Hammadi, chairman of the board of directors at Union Properties, said.

Expo 2020 Dubai, which will take place from October 1 to March 31, 2022, will feature more than 190 country pavilions and themed exhibitions. The event is expected to attract large numbers of visitors from across the world.

In addition to the recent contract, ServeU previously secured a deal to provide the UK pavilion with manpower at the Expo 2020 site, the company said.

The latest deal comes as Union Properties seeks to list ServeU and two other subsidiaries on the Dubai Financial Market to boost its revenue and wipe out accumulated losses.

Union Properties, whose projects include Motor City and Uptown Mirdif, has been executing a turnaround strategy to cut losses incurred due to a downturn in the property market.

As part of the process, the company reduced accumulated losses, increased shareholder equity and ended last year with a profit.

The Dubai developer also swung to a profit in the second quarter of this year on the back of higher revenue after introducing additional measures to address its outstanding losses.

Net profit for the three-month period to the end of June reached Dh26.8m compared with a Dh38.5m loss in the year earlier quarter, the company said last month. Revenue in the quarter increased 19 per cent to Dh99m from the same period a year earlier.

Union Properties also reached an agreement with Emirates NBD last year to restructure an outstanding debt of Dh946m. It agreed to sell a 40 per cent stake in its Dubai Autodrome subsidiary for Dh400m.