Lamar transformed Arkad into a leading international EPC group
Invested: 2012
Exited: 2019
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION
In 2012 Lamar acquired a 30 percent stake in Arkad, a Saudi engineering and construction company. Over the subsequent seven years, Lamar worked with the management team to transform Arkad into a major player in the Saudi EPC sector, delivering some of the world’s biggest energy and infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars.
INVESTMENT RATIONALE
Lamar captured the opportunity to scale-up an operating and development business with the support of key partners including Saudi Aramco.
CREATING VALUE
Through Lamar’s investment, Arkad was able to successfully grow to over 9,000 employees and acquire the oil and gas business of ABB in 2017, one of Europe’s largest industrial groups. The Arkad-ABB business also significantly expanded its global footprint to include dozens of projects in Algeria, Bulgaria, Italy, Tunisia and Iraq. These projects included working with the Bulgarian operator Bulgartransgaz to construct the 474km TurkStream natural gas pipeline, and the EPC for a new gas treatment plant in Tunisia.
SALE
In 2019, Lamar completed the sale of its 30 percent stake in Arkad to other investors in the GCC. The decision to sell the stake delivered significant returns to Lamar and its investors.