JBIC, Mitsubishi take stake in Middle East water company

According to Nikkei, JBIC will invest up to $92 million in newly issued preferred stock while a special purpose vehicle - 60% owned by Mitsubishi and 40% owned by Mitsubishi Heavy - will acquire 38.4% of Metito's common shares from local investment funds and others. The deal will make the Japanese consortium the company's biggest shareholder.

Established in 1958 and headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, Metito provides water management solutions in the emerging markets with operations covering three business areas: design and build, specialty chemicals, and utilities.

Metito currently claims to be a leader in the water and waste water industry with a current global project portfolio worth more than $1 billion and over 2500 employees worldwide. It will use the funds for future projects with a view to strengthening its position in emerging markets.

Mitsubishi - which expects demand to surge in the Middle East, Africa and Asia - has already made a number water-related investments in Asia.

In 2010, it joined the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), JGC Corporation (JGC) and Manila Water Company (MWC) in acquiring the Australian subsidiary of United Utilities for A$225 million ($211 million). More recently - in March - it partnered with MWC - in which it owns a stake - to develop a non-revenue water (NRW) reduction project in Myanmar.

Mitsubishi intends take a hand in the management of Metito while Mitsubishi Heavy aims to use the investment to boost exports of desalination equipment.

The deals comes less than a week after JBIC was revealed to be investing INR630 million ($10.5 million) in India's Takshasila Hospitals, which operates Sakra World Hospital in Bangalore. Both transactions come at time when the government-backed organization is looking to engage in more private equity investment as a means of fulfilling its remit of supporting Japanese corporate activities overseas.

"We want expand to our private equity investment program and this will be a priority as we look to engage in more equity activities either through direct investment or through investment in funds," said Shigeki Kimura, managing executive officer with JBIC, said in an interview with AVCJ last month.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• North Asia
• MENA
• Infrastructure
• Infrastructure
• Japan
• Infrastructure
• mitsubishi
• JBIC
• MENA