Dubai’s Drake & Scull International is still searching for a replacement for its vice chairman and CEO, Khaldoun Tabari, who plans to step down in the next one to two years, he told Arabian Business.
Drake & Scull, which specialises in mechanical, engineering and plumbing operations, hopes to appoint someone within the next six months, said Tabari.
“The stepping-down issue has come up with the board. It is something that is imminent, the time frame is perhaps one to two years,” he said.
“We are looking with different options [and] with different recruiting agents. I think it will crystallise in the perhaps six months, we would know,” he added.
“Theoretically, we were supposed to by now have selected somebody who would be earmarked to take this position, unfortunately it has been delayed. Definitely by the end of [next] year we would have someone that we look forward to [taking on].”
The firm is currently in preliminary talks for acquisition opportunities in Saudi Arabia valued at around AED100-AED150m and will also be looking at investing in two power plants in India, he added.
The Dubai-based firm, which has gradually been expanding its operations outside the emirate following a slowdown in its once-booming real estate sector, last week sold warrants worth AED147m (US$40m) to Goldman Sachs.
The strategic investment, which represents around 8.5 percent of the company’s current market capitalisation, will allow Drake & Scull to grow its operations both horizontally and through acquisitions, said Tabari.
“It gives us money at a very low rate for us to grow our business; it really says ‘go and out grow your business’,” said Tabari.
“We are talking about acquisitions; we are talking about development,” he added. “Whether it’s to acquire and add to our top line or whether we co-invest. If a developer, for instance, has the right piece of land that can generate sale and profit in the end we would be more than happy to co-invest with that developer.”
The contractor, which last week reported a 93 percent drop in third-quarter profit, said it expects to post substantially improved results in the fourth quarter and looking ahead into 2014.
“I 100 percent believe that Drake & Scull will improve in the fourth quarter and I believe that next year that there will be a time where Drake & Scull will exceed goal expectations,” said Tabari.
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