By Gureni Lukwaro www.thenational.ae
Interiors provider links up with Northern Ireland-based Mivan Gureni Lukwaro Depa, the interiors company that fitted out the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, has won four new contracts worth Dh100 million (US$27.2m). The Dubai company said its joint venture with Mivan, based in Northern Ireland, had won three orders in the UAE and one in Yemen. The largest of them is a 12-month project worth Dh60m for the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, which is scheduled to open in late 2012.
The company will install drywall partitioning and specialist ceiling works in three of the clinic’s buildings. The company has also recently signed two other contracts in the UAE, including the refurbishment of several areas of Abu Dhabi International Airport’s Terminal 1. “Abu Dhabi continues to be an extremely significant market for us as the city continues to progress major development projects and to represent an important proportion of Depa’s overall revenues,” said Mohannad Sweid, the chief executive of Depa.
With operations in more than 17 countries, Depa will enter the Yemen market with a contract to refurbish a hotel in Sana’a, the capital. Depa was awarded a two-month refurbishment contract for the Aden Hotel in Sana’a to upgrade its public areas with completion scheduled in time for the 20th Gulf Cup football championship, starting on November 22. The hotel has one of the largest ballrooms in the city and about 200 rooms and suites.
The contracts come after a challenging start to the year for the company, which announced in August it had lost Dh103m for the first half. Earlier this year, Depa won a Dh220m contract for the interior fit-out of the five-star Hotel and Casino in Luanda, Angola. The company also paid Dh449m to increase its stake in Design Studio Furniture Manufacturer, based in Singapore, from 24.7 per cent to a controlling stake of 90.5 per cent.
