Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi based National Catering Company (NCC) acquired a majority stake in facilities management firms Gecko and Grako and plans to expand to Egypt, a top executive said on Tuesday.
“The acquisition of Gecko will add to our range of services in the oil and gas sector in Abu Dhabi, while the Grako acquisition will strengthen our foothold in Dubai and the Northern Emirates,” said Abdullah Mazroui, chairman of NCC during a press conference in Abu Dhabi.
He said there are great opportunities in Dubai as the 2020 expo draws near and they plan to fully capitalise on the opportunities with the acquisition.
National Catering Company, operating since 1995 in Abu Dhabi specialises in industrial and corporate catering, facilities management, retail and food and beverage sector.
Grako, on the other hand specialises in internal and external cleaning and maintenance with operations across the UAE.
Gecko, a sister company of Grako deals with industrial rope access and coating solutions.
Speaking on the acquisition, Mazroui said Grako is a healthy company with a very impressive track record.
“There are many companies both on catering, FM [facilities management] side but going through difficulty with either receivables or delivering contracts.”
Mazroui also said they are planning to expand in Egypt and will open an office in the first quarter of 2019. The company, which had IPO plans postponed for the moment due to market conditions, he added.
Alain Al Tawil, founder and CEO of Grako and Gecko said FM industry will witness massive growth due to increase in construction and tourism contracts estimated at $629 billion [ Dh2.3tr] in the UAE alone, most of which are expected to be completed by 2021.
“While the market is becoming more and more price sensitive, the FM sector has ample opportunity for the coming year.”
The National Investor acted as the financial advisor and lead manager to NCC on the transaction.
