Dubai-based ANC Holdings has acquired a majority stake in Amusement Whitewater  (AWW), a regional leader in design, supply and execution of themed environments.

AWW is the creator of The Lost Chambers, Atlantis, and the complete internal alpine theming of Ski Dubai. ANC has business interests in construction, foods, education, trading, hospitality, process and real estate.

AWW, with its new partners ANC and Abu Dhabi-based Flag Holdings, will become a leading provider of fully integrated, turnkey solutions for themed environments such as tourist resorts, theme/water parks and animal habitats, said a statement.

AWW has been involved in various landmark retail destinations and tourist projects such as The Lost City in South Africa; The Lost Chambers and Aquaventure water park at The Atlantis, Wild Wadi, Madinat Jumeirah, Ski Dubai and the Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall in Dubai; Sharjah Aquarium and The Sharjah Wild Life Center in Sharjah, it said.

The new ownership structure will allow AWW to continue with the conceptualization, artistic design and direction, value-engineering and execution of themed projects while drawing upon ANC’s expertise to provide structural design, construction and project management, thereby offering customers wholly integrated solutions to even their most ambitious themed projects, the statement said.

Tayeb Baker, chairman, ANC Holdings said: “Over the years AWW has been critically involved in delivering Dubai’s promise of becoming the top global tourist destination in the region while ANC, through its construction related businesses, has played a significant role in shaping the Dubai’s iconic skyline.  It is easy to see the synergies. We are immensely proud to have AWW join the ANC Group and to work together on even greater projects in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and beyond.”

Ahmed Al Serkal, director of Flag Holdings, said: “Given Abu Dhabi’s ambitious plans to develop its tourist sector, we firmly believe that AWW, with its strong credentials of creativity, expertise and experience will play a major part in turning these ambitions into reality.”

“Our arrival in the ANC family is great news for everyone at AWW and for our clients”, said Duarte Marques, founder and CEO, AWW. “It really gives us an incredible competitive edge as it allows AWW to offer turnkey solutions that are not only more cost and time efficient but can also be project managed more effectively”, he added.  –ME NewsWire