ZF English

FCC Construction wants in on real estate projects

01.02.2007, 19:32 7

FCC Construction, one of builders of Basarab road tunnel of Bucharest, will enter the real estate market this year, after having carried out only infrastructure works for two years, says Alcibiades Lopez Ceron, FCC Construction manager for Europe.
The domestic branch of the Spanish group is in talks for the construction of several real estate projects.
"The Romanian real estate market is witnessing a boom, and the quality of construction is going to be essential in project development. This is why an increasing number of strong foreign building companies that have financial strength and expertise will arrive on the domestic market," stated Lopez Ceron.
The Spanish company is in talks for the construction of Sun Plaza shopping centre and of a residential project developed by a Spanish investor, due to include 500 houses.
The Spanish company will participate in real estate projects together with the domestic branches of Austria's Alpine group. FCC Construction last year acquired 80.7% in Alpine, Austria's second biggest construction company, for 80 million euros.
Moreover, FCC Construction plans to take part in tenders for the more difficult sections of Bucharest-Brasov highway, as it specialises in tunnels and bridges.
FCC Construction has Romanian employees working for the company in Spain and the company's representatives are not ruling out the possibility to bring them back to Romania as the construction market is growing.
The company now has 80 employees and last year generated turnover worth 12 million euros, expecting this year's figure to amount to 40 million euros.
FCC Construction is specialised in highway and national road leasing, a business that is due to witness solid growth over the following years on the domestic market, according to Lopez Ceron.
FCC Construction is now involved in the construction of the Basarab Bridge of the capital city, a project worth 133 million euros, through a joint venture with Italy's Astaldi. It has also won a contract worth 116 million euros for Vidin-Calafat Bridge between Romania and Bulgaria.
FCC Construction will finalise the rehabilitation of Cluj-Livada national road this year, a contract that started in 2004 and amounts to 20 million euros.
"We decided to enter the Romanian market in 2003, in the wake of the initiative of the then government, which wanted to raise financing from international banks for infrastructure projects. Even though the initiative was not successful at that time, the development of the Romanian market drew our attention," says Ceron.
FCC group, operating in the construction, real estate, environment and cement production sectors, in the first nine months of last year derived net revenues worth 6.3 billion euros.

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