KEC International buys tower making units in Dubai to expand Middle East operations

RPG Enterprises’ infrastructure company KEC International has acquired a transmission tower manufacturing facility with a capacity of 50,000 tons a year in Dubai for Rs 100 crore, the Harsh Goenka-led company said on Monday.

With this acquisition, KEC International sims to scale up its tower manufacturing capacity and expand its presence in the Middle East and Africa. This unit was previously owned by Gulf Jyoti International LLC Dubai, a joint venture of Jyoti Structures, which is currently undergoing insolvency proceedings in India, and Gulf Investment Corporation of Kuwait.

“This facility will help us in expanding our business at a time when we are clearly witnessing resurgence of tendering activity in Middle East and North Africa. We believe this acquisition to be value accretive to our stakeholders,” said Vimal Kejriwal, managing director and chief executive officer.

The automated manufacturing unit is located at mainland Dubai and was acquired in an auction sale conducted by Emirates Auction Authority.

KEC International expects to leverage its technical know-how to expand the offerings in the region and hopes to benefit from the pre-qualifications of the newly acquired unit.

“The unit enhances the credentials to get more business in the MENA region on account of local price preferences and fiscal benefits,” Kejriwal said.

The unit is strategically located in proximity to Jebel Ali Port and Al Maktoum International Airport.

With this acquisition, KEC now has manufacturing units for transmission towers, railway and solar structures, monopoles and hardware spread across India, UAE, Brazil and Mexico with a total manufacturing capacity of up to 4,22,200 tons a year.

At 14:53 IST, shares of KEC International were trading at Rs 343.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, up 1.3% from the previous close.