Akron Holding deal to buy transformer plant in UAE collapses

SAMARA. April 30 (Interfax) - Akron Holding's deal to acquire a transformer plant in the United Arab Emirates from a Saudi group has fallen through, the Russian company's CEO, Pavel Morozov told Interfax.

"The deal, unfortunately, did not take place. Disagreements about the appraisal of the business, financial result. We sent a prepayment, after which we did an audit, did not get the necessary financial model and essentially lost the deposit. We didn't go further into the project," Morozov said.

Ask about new projects in the Middle East, he said: "Not at this point."

Morozov told Interfax last July that the company had an agreement "with a well-known Saudi holding" to acquire a transformer plant located in Abu Dhabi. The deal was expected to be closed in the third quarter of 2024 and the plant was supposed to open in the first quarter of 2025. The plant was expected to produce 10,000 transformers per year for the Middle Eastern market.

"The plant was built in 2009 by Siemens with Saudi partners. Unfortunately, their partnership did not work out. The plant has stood idle, not worked for the past two years, but it has the most modern equipment, the most modern, advanced lines. We reached an agreement on acquisition with a Saudi holding," Morozov said at the time.

Akron Holding launched a plant in the UAE to produce copper wire rod from scrap metal in March 2024.

Akron Holding is a vertically integrated industrial and metallurgical group that, among other things, collects and processes ferrous and nonferrous metal scrap in Russia and other CIS countries.