Spanish group Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) said it has set up a joint venture with Abu Dhabi’s Commodore Contracting Company to target $700 million worth of infrastructure projects in the UAE.

One of Europe’s largest infrastructure and environmental services companies, FCC said the tie-up consolidates its footprint in the region.

The two companies will launch joint bids for transport infrastructure, services and public building projects with an estimated value of $200 to 700 million in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and also other emirates, the Spanish firm said in a statement.

Through its Austrian subsidiary Alpine, FCC had built Dubai Cricket Stadium in 2008 and has a $100 million construction project underway at Borouge in Abu Dhabi (owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Austrian Borealis).

Earlier this year, FCC signed a joint venture with Qatar’s Petroserv to jointly bid for key infrastructure projects ahead of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup.

FCC brings its knowhow of building iconic global infrastructure such as the renovation of FC Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium and Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium as well as key transport infrastructure such as the longest tunnel in the world (St Gotthard tunnel between Italy and Switzerland), tunnels for London’s new railway project Crossrail and Central America’s first metro system.

This agreement is part of FCC’s global expasion strategy that has taken the company into over 50 countries  and which it hopes will help net at least 60 per cent of its revenue coming from outside Spain, said a top official.

On the JV move, CEO and chairman Baldomero Falcones, remarked: 'We’re very proud to have a partner like Commodore that is so well-established in the region. This is a great opportunity and a significant milestone for us, which has come about in part thanks to the excellent relationship between Spain and Abu Dhabi.'

Finding local partners to develop key infrastructure projects has been key to FCC’s expansion in the Gulf and Mena region, for example: in Qatar (Petroserv), Algeria (ETRHB Haddad) and Egypt (Orascom), he added.-TradeArabia News Service