Byrne Equipment Rental, a Dubai-based equipment rental company servicing the construction, industrial, oil and gas and events industries, is in advanced talks to acquire two GCC-based companies. It is also eyeing a clutch of other deals as it ramps up expansion plans following a Dh1 billion buy-out led by its chairman this week.
"In the past two to three years we have seen sustained profitability in some markets and average [annual] growth of 25 per cent and I am very positive about the year ahead," Byrne's chairman and chief executive Hamad Al Sulaiman told The National. "We don't really have competition in the region."
Byrne considers itself a "one-stop shop" for equipment rental in the GCC, from temporary buildings for events and construction sites, to industrial equipment and power generation facilities.
It runs operations from its 17 plants and depots across the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and several locations in Saudi Arabia including Makkah, Jeddah, Riyadh and Turaif.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's Mr Al Sulaiman’s Itqan Investments, together with Tamar VPower Energy Fund, a vehicle jointly managed by Hong Kong-based power company VPower Group International, and Citic Pacific, the overseas arm of a diversified Chinese conglomerate, acquired Byrne Equipment Rental in a Dh1bn deal.
The deal incorporates other businesses within the Byrne Group, including Spacemaker, Byrne Technical Services and Byrne Medical Equipment Rental. It brings Byrne’s total headcount to 1,500 staff and this is expected to grow to 2,500 in the next two years.
“The acquisition will support Byrne’s plans to grow into the Asian market and replicate the success the company has achieved in the GCC region,” Mr Al Sulaiman said.
The Asian shareholders’ expertise in the mega-power (engine-based electricity generation) industry will also help Byrne expand into the GCC’s mega-power sector, the statement added.
One of the targeted firms for acquisition this year is in the solar power sector and the other is in oil and gas, Mr Al Sulaiman told The National at Byrne's office in Dubai. He said the group is in early stage talks with other companies from the region and there is no limit to the size of any deal struck – provided the acquisition complements and adds value to Byrne's activities.
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The group has capital in place for the next two to three years but may consider a sukuk issue to finance the planned growth of its business in the medium term, in particular two mega-projects it is bidding on at present. “We are under-leveraged, so funding is widely available to us,” the chairman said.
Asia is the key target market for an expanded Byrne Group, as it looks to capitalise on an increasing number of major projects under development on the continent as well as high forecast growth, particularly in China.
However, there are also plans to enter Africa in the coming years, particularly in Egypt and Kenya, where there are sizeable oil and gas industries, Mr Al Sulaiman said. The group wants to expand its activities in the oil and gas equipment rental sector.
In the GCC, Byrne plans to commence operations in a further region of Saudi Arabia, Jubail. Expansion into Europe is not on the cards – other than Eurasian markets with sizeable oil and gas industries such as Azerbaijan – according to the chairman, because the equipment rental market is already competitive.
“We are bringing the operating lease model to the region,” he said. “In Europe, roughly 80 per cent of all utilised equipment is either leased or rented so there’s not much we can do there. In the GCC it’s not more than 8 per cent, and in the wider Middle East it is much lower than that.”
Stabilising oil prices after a three-year slump are providing a much-needed boost to many economies across the world, including the GCC, but Mr Al Sulaiman said he would be confident of Byrne’s growth trajectory “even without such an uplift”.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Company%20profile
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