Mulk Holdings invests Dh768m in expansion

Dubai: Mulk Holdings, a Sharjah-based diversified conglomerate, is investing Dh768 million in expanding its manufacturing facilities.

Following its acquisition of a new facility in Europe, it signed a Dh100 million joint venture deal on on Wednesday with its Turkish partners Aldom Group to set up a manufacturing plant in Turkey.

The joint venture agreement with Aldom Group is for setting up a base to manufacture Alubond USA Fire Rated Building Façade Panels and Aluminum Coil Coatings. Under the terms of the agreement, Mulk Holdings will own 70 per cent of the shares and Aldom Group the remaining 30 per cent.

Alubond was used in the interior fit-outs of the Burj Khalifa — the world's tallest tower.

Mulk Holdings, one of the largest manufacturers of Alubond aluminium composite panels, is expanding in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

The company, set up by non-resident Indian businessman Shaji Ul Mulk in 2002, has been expanding its business even during the current challenging economic climate.

The company last year spent $100 million (Dh367 million) in expansions.

The factory will be located in Istanbul on the existing facility of Aldom Group and have a production capacity of three million square metres of environment-friendly aluminium composite panels. The total investment will be over $28 million, taking Alubond's capacity to over six million square metres in Europe with its up-coming Serbia plant.

As part of its global expansion, the company will open four factories this year, Ul Mulk said. A factory will open in India in March, in China in April, Turkey in July and Serbia in October. The Turkey facility will be one of the largest overseas manufacturing bases of Mulk Holdings. Alubond USA is the core product of Mulk Holdings and has achieved The World's Largest Composite Panel brand status with bases in USA, Europe, the UAE and India.

Ul Mulk, chairman of Mulk Holdings, told Gulf News: "Despite the challenging economic situation, we are still expanding our business. We are investing in seven manufacturing plants in India, Serbia, the UAE and other parts of the world, with a total investment outlay of around $210 million in the next three years.

"This reflects our confidence in the future of our core businesses."

The expansion will consolidate Alubond's global position of leading the façade industry and further strengthen the UAE-Turkey investment and economic relationship.

"The decision to manufacture in Turkey is in line with our market strategy of being in key metal composite markets," Ul Mulk said. Dr Rashid Al Leem, director general of Hamriyah Free Zone, said: "It's good to see that a company based in Hamriyah Free Zone, is expanding globally, especially in the middle of a financial crisis."

Muzzafer Boynudelik managing partner of Aldom Group, said: "Aldom has a history of being the largest aluminium composite panel distributors in Turkey. We were distributors for many years for Japanese brand Alpolic. We switched over to Alubond USA mainly due to the superior quality."

Business: Language of peace

Business is the best way towards peace in the world, according to Dr Rashid Al Leem, director-general of Hamriyah Free Zone.

"Business is the most peaceful language in the world that brings prosperity to people and societies. It also brings people closer and helps to create a bond," Al Leem said. "We have 6,000 companies at the Hamriyah Free Zone representing people from 137 nationalities. I call it the second United Nations where people work and generate wealth for the communities."

Hamriyah Free Zone is one of the UAE's largest free zones located in Sharjah.