By Ben Garcia, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The massive and ever-growing demand in the construction business in the region has prompted the signing of the latest Subscription and Warranty Agreement between two colossal construction companies in Kuwait yesterday. Mushrif Trading & Contracting Company KSCC, a Kuwaiti based construction company announced the signing of an agreement between Gulf Consortium 2 LLC, a Dubai based company and a member of the Group of Ithmar Capital in the presence of the local media and its board members.

Fahad Al-Wazzan, Chairman of Mushrif Company and Khaldoun Haj Hassan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ithmar Capital signed the agreement yesterday and pledged each other's support for both companies and were both optimistic on the success of their partnership. "From our point of view this was an excellent deal well-knowing the reputation of the Mushrif Company. We are very happy and proud in signing the agreement with them," disclosed Khaldoun Haj Hasan when Kuwait Times asked about his comments right after the press conference.

The two companies have agreed that Gulf Consortium 2 LLC, would subscribe to the entire new shares issued (30,000,000 shares) at a price of .900 Kuwaiti fils per share (a par value of 100 Kuwaiti fils and a share premium of 800 Kuwaiti fils). The agreement means that Mushrif paid the share capital which would be increased by 100 percent from KD 3 million to KD 6 million. The gross proceeds from the capital increase will be at KD 27 million.

A Share Purchase Agreement was also signed by the two parties allowing Mushrif to use KD 16.4 million of the subscription proceeds to purchase major construction businesses in the UAE. "We have identified major construction projects in the UAE already and because of this we can expand the projects, as we have several of those - especially in Dubai," Haj Hasan added.

In addition, the two companies had earlier signed a Management and Shareholding Agreement that provides for the board of Mushrif to include three members from the Ithmar Capital and Gulf Consortium 2. The signing of the agreement was held at the KIPCO Asset Management Company (KAMCO), the exclusive financial advisors for Mushrif.

Besides the two company executives, the signing was also attended by its board members Saad Al-Wazzan, Anthony Kyprianuo, and the three legal advisors representing both the companies. Ithmar Capital is a UAE-based GCC focused private equity firm, with a portfolio of investments in excess of $500 million that include interests in a number of strategic sectors such as oil and gas, healthcare and education sectors.

Mushrif, on the other hand, was established in 1968, a Kuwaiti based company holding businesses spanning from Saudi Arabia to Iran, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. They are responsible for several projects such as heavy civil works, runways, major highways, water treatment plants, pumping stations, high-end high-tech and specialized buildings, M & E Specialist Construction Services, marine works and many more. Mushrif revenues grew at an annual growth of 28 percent while its assets grew at 33.5 percent over the past five years. The success of the company according to them can be attributed to the industries' growth in the region and sound management.

Source: Kuwait Times