A company official says Liberty House Group has its sights set on aluminium and steel assets in the United Arab Emirates in an effort at expanding its footprint in the Middle East.
Liberty House Industries CEO Douglas Dawson explained to a UAE newspaper over the weekend that the move into the Middle East is imminent, and the announcement would be soon.
“We are significantly advanced on two particular acquisitions and hope to make some announcement in the next year. We are keen to establish our industrial presence in the Middle East and what we are really doing in many ways is replicating our global strategy.”
Sanjeev Gupta’s London-based conglomerate has a presence in over two dozen countries, with new assets in new countries being brought into the fold at a feverish pace. October saw the firm adding steel facilities in Romania, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, and Italy, and the following month it brought on three more steel factories in Benelux.
Liberty House has also made major moves in the aluminium arena recently as well. The latest, and biggest, acquisition to date was November’s purchase of Aluminium Dunkerque from Rio Tinto Group.
Per Dawson, an acquisition in UAE would bolster the firm’s revenues by one-fifth.
“Despite some market challenges around the region, we have shown good growth in 2018 and we are looking at further growth in 2019. The UAE is an area where we can see sustainable growth for the long-term and that is what drives us as an organisation.
“There are three key acquisitions we are looking on and we expect them to be successful and conclude in the first quarter next year,” he said. “If we are successful, revenue next year will be $20bn.”
Liberty House expects to excel in 2019 despite the Trump administration’s controversial aluminium and steel tariffs, which have been a millstone about the neck of much of the rest of the global aluminium market.
“We don’t have any concerns about tariffs,” he explained. “Some of the products we export into the US, these products are of such quality and grade, that they are not made in the US. So tariffs are not impacting these products.”