Tie-up with Korean giant signals arrival of EII fabrications company as ‘top three’ major league player.
Dubai, October 12, 2006: Multiforms, one of Emaar Industries and Investments’ (EII) growing portfolio of manufacturing subsidiaries, today announced a major tie-up with Hyundai, the shipbuilding to construction giant.
The partnership with one of Korea’s ‘gold standard’ industrial conglomerates confirms the emergence of aluminium fabricator Multiform as one of the market leaders.
Firas Rifai, Multiforms’ Managing Director, and H.Y. Shim, Hyundai Aluminium’s Chairman, sealed the agreement when they jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two companies at EII’s headquarters in Dubai. Dr Ahmad Khayyat, Chief Executive Officer of EII, welcomed the move which he said is a measure of the progress shown by Multiforms since it joined the EII group of companies.
He added: “Multiforms has been a spectacularly successful investment and we see enormous scope for further growth and expansion of the business. Really, there are no limits to what it can achieve, especially with a first class partner such as Hyundai.”
The MoU with one of the giants of the global industry establishes Multiforms’ position as a key player in the ancillary industries that support the region’s booming multi-billion construction sector. Multiforms dominates the UPVC supplier market and is increasingly prominent as a manufacturer and supplier of custom aluminium walling and cladding and a range of sophisticated architectural materials.
Through EII involvement, the company has been able to build on the momentum generated by its own commercial initiatives. Since the acquisition by EII it has restructured and billing and production capacity have been increased by 400 per cent. EII’s involvement has allowed it to ratchet up its engineering capabilities, introduce new senior management and move the business into a new facility. In the process, turnover has climbed more than 300 per cent since EII’s involvement began a year ago.
Now it is looking for a similar boost from the MoU with Hyundai, which will see the two partner across most of the Gulf region, while further increasing the Dubai-based manufacturer’s technical and production capabilities as it gears up to meet soaring demand.
Mr. Rifai said: “This agreement signals our commitment to work with one of the giants of global industry and also Multiforms’ emergence as a major player in its specialist sector able to partner with the best. It also enables the company to better serve its growing customer base and meet the demands of more sophisticated projects and a rapidly expanding and developing market. Multiforms has experienced 150 per cent growth over 2005 and we are looking to build on what we have achieved.”
Mr. Shim said: “We welcome this opportunity to team our capabilities as aluminium manufacturing and marketing specialists with those of one of the most dynamic companies in the sector. We believe this partnership has enormous potential and will lead to great achievements and successes.”
Multiforms has already succeeded in positioning itself at the forefront of the regional industry through a series of prestigious projects. Its current projects involve manufacturing and erecting facades and windows for most of Dubai’s premium construction projects, including world leading architect Sir Norman Foster’s first building in Dubai, eight 50-storey towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence, and towers in Dubai Marina and Burj Dubai.
The partnership with Hyundai will boost the company’s ability to explore opportunities further afield in North Africa, Egypt and Europe. Mr. Rifai added: “This partnership is not limited to a single project. It will lead to the development of new business lines and increase our ability to take on more high tech engineering projects.”
