Arcom Bucharest SA, one of the leading domestic players on the constructions market is planning to establish two joint ventures with British and German partners.
Arcom SA is already a partner in two joint ventures, as it teamed up with French group Lafarge for the only producer of plasterboard on the Romanian market and with Germany-based Gealan company.
Arcom has been very active lately, given that it has recently sold another 40% in Lafarge Arcom Gips SA for approximately $3.6-$3.7 million.
"We are in talks with a German and a British company to establish two joint ventures. The partnership with the British company will target housing construction. The talks could be finalised in three months and our foreign partners may control the projected joint ventures," Florian Florescu, Arcom Bucharest SA economic manager told Ziarul Financiar.
He declined providing any further details as to the names of the two foreign companies, considering the current progress of the talks. The Brits could invest about $5-$6 million in building a factory to make panels for housing construction, with Arcom set to cover the rest of the green-field type investment to total $7 million, according to Florescu.
Sources on the market, however, told Ziarul Financiar that the "mysterious" British partner could be Northcroft, an international group that provides consulting for construction projects.
Northcroft (as project manager) and Arcom (as contractor) last year proposed to build houses for the National Defence Ministry in the Ghencea area. The technology used for building the houses was new on the Romanian market, as it was based on tridimensional panels. These panels, produced by the Austria-based EVG, make it possible to build a house (finishings exclusive) in approximately three weeks for about $250 per square metre. This technology is now being analysed by the certification institutions, which are testing its capability to withstand earthquakes in Romania.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro
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