Arabtec

Founded in 1975, Arabtec took advantage of the emerging markets in the UAE during the construction boom of the 1970s. Arabtec Construction started as a construction company specialized in high tech civil engineering and infrastructure works.

During the 1980s Arabtec began an involvement with the oil and gas sectors in Abu Dhabi.

In 2011, Arabtec formed a joint-venture with Raheja Developers of India. Raheja Developers awarded construction contracts worth US$204 million to the JV. The company's first project is to construct a 56-story, 196-meter-high (643 ft) residential complex, known as Raheja Revanta, in Gurgaon.

In 2013, Arabtec formed a joint-venture with Samsung Engineering of South Korea. They will collaborate to undertake large-scale projects in oil & gas, power and infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa. Arabtec-Samsung will bid for contracts that range from $3 billion to $10 billion in value.

In August 2012, Arabtec won AED11 billion contract to build the new airport in Abu Dhabi (Midfield Terminal Building) in JV with Turkish TAV and CCC (TCA-JV).

In 2015, Arabtec posted a loss of $626 million.

In 2016, Arabtec won the US$1.1 billion contract to build a new terminal at Bahrain International Airport under the name of Bahrain International Airport Modernization Program having a Joint Venture with a Turkish Company called TAV Construction; together the company is referred as ATJV in Bahrain.

Initial Public Offering

Arabtec Holding was the first privately held company as well as the first construction company to go public in the UAE. The company was listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) in 2005 and since the IPO the stock has been one of the most traded in the region. In 2010 Dubai Financial Market awarded Arabtec Holding as the most traded stock from year 2000 to 2010.

Joint ventures and subsidiaries

Arabtec Holding PJSC, Dubai, UAE – Holding company – Management of subsidiaries

Austrian Arabian Ready Mix, Dubai, UAE – Manufacture and transportation of ready mix concrete products

House of Equipment Co. L.L.C, Dubai, UAE – Trading and leasing of construction equipment.

Controversy

In a 2009 BBC Panorama program, Arabtec was exposed as treating their migrant workers inhumanely. The program showed how Arabtec failed to provide its workers with basic amenities to live with conditions deteriorating rapidly across the camp.

Armed with secret cameras, BBC reporters sneaked into the camp to be met with the smell of raw sewage. Sewage had leaked out all over the camp, and workers had to create a network of stepping stones to cross it and get back to their accommodation blocks.

Documents which had been obtained by the BBC clearly show that a month previous to the television crews' visit, the Dubai municipality described the sewage situation at the site as critical. Arabtec had also been fined 10,000 AED, which is approximately £2,000, for neglecting hygiene standards and allowing sewage to overflow into accommodation used by workers.

Arabtec said it did not accept that there were unsanitary conditions at any of its camps' toilets. It blamed the workers, saying, despite training, their "standards of cleanliness and hygiene are not up to your or our standards".