Itqan Investments, VPower Group and CITIC Pacific join hands in acquiring Byrne Group in AED1 billion deal

Itqan Investments LLC (“Itqan”) owned by Sheikh Hamad Al Sulaiman, together with Tamar VPower Energy Fund I LP (the “Fund”),  jointly established and managed by Hong Kong based VPower Group International Holdings Ltd. (1608.HK) (“VPower”) and CITIC Pacific Ltd. (“CITIC Pacific”), has acquired Byrne Equipment Rental LLC (the “Byrne Group”), the most diverse supplier of rental equipment, including power rental solutions, across the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), in a deal valued at approximately AED1 billion.

Byrne Equipment Rental, one of the top 100 rental companies in the world according to International Rental News, offers high quality equipment rental solutions to a broad variety of sectors including oil & gas, construction & infrastructure, events, industrial & manufacturing and marine & ports, who work with global companies throughout the GCC.  

The deal also includes other businesses within the Byrne Group, namely Spacemaker (UAE), Byrne Technical Services (KSA) and Byrne Medical Equipment Rental.

Sheikh Hamad Al Sulaiman, Chairman of Itqan and Chairman & CEO of the Byrne Group, said: “The acquisition will support Byrne’s plans to grow into the Asian market and replicate the success the company has already achieved in the GCC region, and tap into a wider scope of power generation solutions in the GCC region.

“Our clients here in the GCC will continue to receive an outstanding level of service and will benefit from a growth in our rental fleet, both in terms of size and diversity.

 “VPower and CITIC Pacific have a clear understanding of our operating model and we see this as a powerful opportunity to leverage our respective strengths and generate enhanced growth in our markets.  This is particularly the case in the larger scale power generation market, where VPower’s investment, building and operating business has demonstrated tremendous growth in recent years and CITIC Pacific has extensive experience with a total gross installed capacity in thermal, clean and renewable energy over 7GW.

“There is a clear synergy between the companies and a mutual ambition to be the leaders in our fields.  This year alone has seen Byrne develop three new successful business lines and we are confident that our partnership will benefit our customers and staff, and help raise the standard of quality and service in our industry.”

With 15 operational bases and a fleet of over 10,000 items of plant, the Byrne Group is made up of more than 1,500 people and the acquisition is expected to benefit existing staff members with career progression opportunities made available.

Sheikh Hamad Al Sulaiman added: “Byrne is entering into a new phase, having built a strong brand identity, an extensive infrastructure covering the whole GCC, the widest mix of equipment promoting the one stop shop concept, experience of over 25 years in the region, extensive supplier arrangements, and systems and procedures that have survived the test of time. With the latest major economic changes in the region, towards further anticipated substantial growth in the coming years, Byrne is well placed to expand our existing business in line with this growth, and open new business lines capitalizing on our existing infrastructure in place. 

“With in-house capabilities and experience derived from our new shareholders we will be expanding into the mega-power market in the region, more oil & gas centric equipment, environmental equipment, and new geographies, while continuing to grow our wide spectrum of equipment offering.”

He further added: “We are a GCC company with a strong history and an incredibly experienced team of professionals who are both multi-cultural and multi-national.  The team has helped our business to thrive and succeed in many different ways and this will continue to be an important focus of the organisation in the future with VPower and CITIC Pacific.”

Headquartered in Hong Kong, VPower is Southeast Asia’s largest private gas-fired engine-based distributed power station owner and operator. It is also one of the world’s top five gas-fired gen-set system integrator and a supplier of gen-sets to the Byrne Group. In conjunction with its power gen-set system integration business, the company invests in, builds and operates utility-grade distributed power stations.  The Byrne Group, as an existing customer of the system integration business of VPower, will derive immediate synergy from VPower’s expertise and resources in distributed power generation to develop and grow mega-power business in the GCC.

Highlighting the significance of the acquisition, Rorce Au-Yeung, an investment committee member of the Fund and Co-Chief Executive Officer of VPower, said: “VPower has the capabilities and expertise to help drive Byrne’s expansion, with a focus on the multi-megawatt power generation and power rental markets. The opportunities that lie ahead for Byrne in the global markets are vast, supported by the depth of international networks and resources of the new shareholders.”  

CITIC Pacific is the overseas investment platform of CITIC Limited (267.HK), the largest conglomerate in China and a constituent index company of Hong Kong Stock Exchange with total assets and net assets value over US$ 964 billion and US$ 101 billion respectively, as of 31 December 2017. CITIC Pacific’s core businesses include special steel manufacturing, energy and real estate development.  It is also the majority shareholder of two Hong Kong Listed companies, Dah Chong Hong Holdings Limited (1828.HK) and CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (1883.HK).  

Steve Kwok, an investment committee member of the Fund and Executive Vice President of CITIC Pacific, remarked, “We are pleased with the opportunity to invest with our partner VPower in this world-class equipment rental company in the GCC.  This is our first project in the region and we are confident to contribute our expertise in the power sector, and bring in other business opportunities leveraging CITIC Group’s network to support the growth of Byrne and open up the China market opportunity.”