Oger International, the Paris-based construction engineering and project management subsidiary of Saudi Oger, has been bought out by French company AMK Capital Investment owned by Jordanian investor Ala Al Khawaja, it was announced on Wednesday.

The acquisition coincides with the end of a job protection plan and business protection procedures endorsed by a labour court in Bobigny (a district just north of Paris) the company said in a press statement.

Following the default of its largest client in the Middle East [former parent Saudi Oger] in 2016, the company entered into a restructuring exercise, which included an 18-month freeze on debt payments to help tide over its cashflow difficulties.

Saudi Oger is now no longer operational and owes around 1.3 billion Saudi riyals of debt to Saudi banks, Reuters reported last month. It also said that Saudi Arabia is setting up a committee to handle the restructuring of its debts.

Oger International said in the press statement that the new shareholder is supporting the company’s 2019-2021 strategic development plan. According to the statement, priority will be given to strengthening the company’s presence in French, European and African markets through four regional divisions (France and Europe; Africa; Middle East, and Saudi Arabia) and three business units (architectural/interior; fluids-electricity; structure-infrastructure).

However, the company will “continue to fly the French flag in the Middle East and Africa, where we still successfully develop numerous opportunities," chairman and CEO Omar Joseph Baroud said in the statement.

It said Oger International developed a large part of its expertise working on prestigious projects in the Middle East that included Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum; Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi; Four Seasons Jeddah, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) near Rabigh in Saudi Arabia and the Grand Théâtre de Rabat.

The company’s last reported sales in 2016, the year it went into restructuring, stood at €66 million ($79 million). It currently employs 350 people across its five offices that include locations in France., Morocco, Tunisia and the UAE.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by Michael Fahy)

(anoop.menon@thomsonreuters.com)


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