Irish-Malaysian group Kentz wins Middle East deal

IRISH-MALAYSIAN Engineering group, Kentz, has won a €130 million contract in the Middle East.

Kentz said yesterday the developers of the Sidra medical centre in Doha, Qatar, have awarded its local subsidiary a $208 million (€133 million) contract to supply its main electrical systems.

Its subsidiary, Qatar Kentz, confirmed it has agreed a letter of award for the deal with the main contractor, a joint venture between Spain’s OHL and US company Contrack International.

The venture has hired Kentz to design, supply and install the main electrical systems for the Sidra centre. The group said yesterday that it has already begun preparing for the work.

The centre itself is a $2.3 billion project that will include clinical care, education and biomedical research. It is scheduled for completion in 2011.

Kentz will be working with Voltas, part of India’s TATA group, which is providing mechanical services to the centre’s developers.

The combined value of the Kentz and Voltas deals comes to $400 million, the Irish group said yesterday.

Kentz has been active in Qatar since 1997, and has worked on 25 projects in the oil and gas industry.

Kentz’s clients in many of these projects were the country’s national petroleum company and its international partners. A state-related body, the Qatar Foundation, is behind the Sidra centre.

Commenting on the deal yesterday, Kentz chief executive, Dr Hugh O’Donnell, said the award was a significant milestone in its working relationship with Qatar Foundation and Qatar Petroleum.

Kentz is headquartered in Tipperary and operates across three continents, working mainly with oil and gas, exploration, and pharmaceutical and chemical industries.Last year it had $545 million in revenues and profit before tax of $34 million.

Kentz raised a total of £66.7 million (€84 million) when it floated on London’s Alternative Investment Market in February. Directors and managers received £48 million while the company received more than £18 million.