DUBAI: Dubai-based KEF Infra, part of the KEF Holdings owned by Non-Resident Indian (NRI)billionaire Faizal E. Kottikollon, has merged with Katerra, a US-based family-owned construction technology business to create a $3.75 billion conglomerate with $8.5 billion order book.
Prior to the merger, KEF Infra had $250 million orderbook and $400 million work in the pipeline in India where the company gradually started to change the construction sector with technology-powered building solutions through off-site precast technology that saves up to 40 percent construction cost and 50 per cent time savings with nearly zero wastage.
“The merger creates a strong synergy between two forward-looking technology companies and we are happy with the way the process has gone through,” Faizal E. Kottikollon (seen in the picture), Chairman of KEF Holdings – a diversified business conglomerate that bear his initials – said in an interview with Gulf Property.
“Following the merger, KEF Infra will become KEF Katerra Middle East that I will head and also liaise with the management of Katerra on spearheading investment into the Middle East and South Asia.”
Following the merger, Faizal E. Kottikollon will be the board member of Katerra and chairman of KEF Katerra Middle East, while remaining chairman of KEF Holdings – an entity that is owned by him. Although he did not reveal the details of the merger, it was ‘a cash and equity’ deal in which Faizal becomes a shareholder in the global company in exchange of merging KEF Infra with Katerra and a significant cash payout – to the tune of ‘several hundred million dollars’ – according to a news agency.
The merged entity will now have a team strength of 3,600 people with orderbook of $3.75 billion and US$8.5 billion works in the pipeline.
Faizal E. Kottikollon had earlier launched KEF Infra in 2014 by setting up a ‘construction factory’ at Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu with an investment of $100 million that paid off handsomely and started to change the labour-intensive construction sector with significant value addition powered by technology.
