INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - JUNE 2006
THE MONTH THAT WAS...

PUNJ LLOYD ENGINEERS SEMBE&C ACQUISITION FOR S$35.2 MILLION

ENGINEERING and construction major Punj Lloyd announced the acquisition of Singapore-based SembCorp Engineers & Constructors (SembE&C), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SembCorp Industries, a leading utilities and marine group in Asia.

Punj Lloyd, through its whollyowned subsidiary in Singapore — Punj Lloyd Pte Ltd, has acquired 88% stake in SembE&C at a consideration of Singapore $35.2 million. The company said it would acquire the remaining 12% stake on or before December 31, ‘07 . PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance, Singapore acted as advisors to Punj Lloyd during the transaction.

SembCorp Engineers & Constructors, with a revenue of over Singapore $1 billion last year, is a design-and-build engineering and construction service provider, with core capabilities encompassing process & plant engineering, heavy civil engineering and building.

Commenting on the acquisition, Punj Lloyd CMD Atul Punj said it would substantially enhance the group's capabilities to tap complementary growth sectors like infrastructure and petrochemicals.

“We will also greatly benefit from the experienced and quality manpower as this acquisition will add a very large number of experienced and qualified engineers to our existing talent pool,” he said.

The company said this acquisition was in line with its strategic intent to expand the geographical reach and portfolio enhancement in complementary sectors. Punj Lloyd already has a formidable presence in South Asia , Middle East , Asia Pacific as well as the African markets. Its operations will now expand to Europe and China , besides Iran and other SE Asian markets, by leveraging the opportunities through this acquisition.

Besides, the acquisition would also provide Punj Lloyd the ability to offer a complete portfolio of EPC solutions in areas such as airports, jetties, MRT/LRT, tunnelling and sewerage.

At present, Punj Lloyd provides engineering construction services in the oil and gas sector for pipelines, tanks and terminals, process facilities, and in the infrastructure sector — for construction of highways and expressways, power plants and high specification buildings besides value-added engineering and plant & facility maintenance.