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Rabat – BUTEC, a contracting group based in the United Arab Emirates, announced on April 21 that it had completed the takeover of the 17 subsidiaries belonging to French energy group Engie, including one Moroccan company.
The acquisition process was officially complete on March 31, following an initial agreement BUTEC and Engie had signed on December 16, according to a company press release.
BUTEC, active in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, will expand its market footprint to the rest of Africa with the new acquisition, the statement said.
The acquisition will allow BUTEC to draw on the expertise of an additional 2000 collaborators and executives, as some of the newly acquired companies have been working on the continent since the early 2000s.
For Engie group, the sell-off marks a step further towards its goal of focusing on green energy and distribution.
The list of BUTEC’s newly acquired companies includes Engie Service Morocco and Engie Services in Algeria.
In West Africa, the list comprises Engie subsidiaries in Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, and Niger.
The West African subsidiaries specialize in engineering, utilities, installation, and energy efficiency services, in addition to manufacturing electrical components, the statement points out.
In South Africa, BUTEC’s newly acquired subsidiaries include Ampair, Thermair, and IES operating in South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, and Zambia.
The South African subsidiaries have been operational for more than 70 years in the fields of climate engineering, installation and maintenance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
The French energy group had sustained significant financial loss following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent decision from Germany to halt the gas pipeline Nord Stream 2.
Engie’s exposure in the gas pipeline reached $1.07 billion, the company said on Thursday during a shareholders’ meeting.
The company had issued a warning of the potential exposure in March following Germany’s decision to halt the project in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On February 28, Energie’s shares took a nosedive days after Germany froze the pipeline.
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