NMDC enters Europe with 51% stake in Spain’s Lantania Aguas

NMDC acquires Lantania Aguas stake to build global water infrastructure business

Last updated: January 19, 2026 | 09:31

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

The acquisition expands NMDC Infra’s offering into the water and wastewater EPC sectors, and aligns with the Group’s strategic diversification objectives

Supplied

Dubai: NMDC Group has entered the European market for the first time after its infrastructure arm agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Spain’s Lantania Aguas. The Abu Dhabi-listed engineering and dredging company will take a 51% share in the desalination and water treatment specialist, expanding its footprint beyond marine and energy infrastructure.

Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.

The deal brings water and wastewater engineering, procurement and construction into NMDC Infra’s core offering, supporting the Group’s broader push into sustainable infrastructure and essential utilities.

Rebranded platform for global water projects

Following completion, Lantania Aguas will be renamed Lantania NMDC Water and will continue to operate under its existing management. The company currently employs more than 300 professionals and holds an active backlog exceeding Dh2 billion across multiple countries.

The partnership will merge NMDC’s commercial scale and technical depth with Lantania’s desalination and purification expertise. Together, they aim to build a stronger presence across the Middle East, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America, targeting large-scale water reuse, wastewater treatment and industrial desalination projects.

The acquisition comes at a time when governments and utilities worldwide are accelerating investment in water infrastructure. Growing pressure on freshwater supplies and on climate resilience has shifted desalination and advanced water treatment from optional to essential, particularly in arid and high-growth regions.

By entering this segment, NMDC is positioning itself in one of the fastest-growing areas of global infrastructure spending.

Also Read: NMDC Group profit climbs 26% to Dh2.8 billion in the first nine months of 2025, backlog hits Dh62.3 billion

Also Read: NMDC Energy revenue climbs 33% to Dh13 billion on global expansion

Also Read: NMDC Group wins $610 million Manila Bay reclamation deal

“This acquisition marks NMDC Group’s first entry to the European market as we are set to export UAE-grown capabilities and scale to complement Lantania’s proven expertise," Eng. Yasser Zaghloul, Group CEO, NMDC Group, said. "It also aligns with our strategy of expanding and diversifying NMDC Infra’s portfolio offering across many of the world’s most dynamic industries and markets."

The transaction is currently awaiting regulatory approvals. Once completed, NMDC Infra will have a fully integrated water platform with projects already active across several international markets.

Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

Get Updates on Topics You Choose

Up Next