OCS Group has announced the formation of a facilities services joint venture in Saudi Arabia with the Jeddah-based Zahid Group.
The new OCS Arabia venture will be headquartered in the King Abdullah Economic City, the new port facility and development zone in Saudi Arabia. The joint venture will complement OCS's existing operations in the Middle East, which were launched in May 2012, with the signing of a joint venture with Qatar's Tadmur Holding. The Qatar deal was followed by a second joint venture in the United Arab Emirates, with the family-owned United Technical Services in May 2014.
According to OCS, the Saudi Arabian joint venture will provide clients with an unrivalled combination of local understanding and global expertise in the delivery of total facilities management. No figures were disclosed in respect of the transaction.
"Zahid Group is a long-established, highly-regarded and reputed business with a successful track record serving a diverse customer base in Saudi Arabia. By combining Zahid Group's local links and commitment to the region with OCS's deep expertise in international delivery of top quality facilities services, the joint venture is well-positioned to offer clients a suite of world-class solutions for their properties," said Chris Cracknell, Chief Executive Officer of OCS Group.
According to Mr Cracknell, OCS is already experiencing "tremendous growth" in the Middle East, based on the company's proposition of international best practice, profound local knowledge and sector-specific expertise. In particular, OCS says that its successful client relationships and global experience in fast-growing sectors such as aviation, education and healthcare are highly valued by clients in the region.
"Saudi Arabia is an economic powerhouse with growth in gross domestic product (GDP) running at over 5% a year with significant capacity for future infrastructure spending. As these projects come to fruition in the form of high quality offices, retail centres, airports, shipping ports, schools and hospitals, the demand for world-class total facilities management services which will take care of all building management challenges will grow. OCS Arabia is in a position to serve owners and operators of these new buildings and deliver value through our unique levels of sector expertise," said Mr Cracknell.
Both OCS Group and Zahid Group are family-owned businesses which can trace their roots back over 100 years. Both parties say that their common heritage as family-owned businesses means they share many of the same values, including a commitment to serving clients over the long term, investing in staff development and contributing to the communities in which they operate.
"Our joint venture with OCS Group is in line with The Zahid Group's ongoing strategy to develop partnerships with leading global organizations in promising sectors with sustainable business models that add value to the economies we participate in. Given the complementary nature of the partners and OCS' established track record in the field of total facilities management I am confident that OCS Arabia will quickly become the Saudi benchmark for facilities management solutions across a broad range of sectors and asset types," said Zayd M. Zahid, Director Investments of Zahid Group Holding.
