M&A WATCH- A joint venture between Hassan Allam Holding and Abdul Latif Jameel has acquired Ridgewood Egypt, which owns some 60 desalination plants across the country, Hassan Allam said in a statement. There were no details on the value of the transaction, which is the first addition to the JV’s portfolio, which was established in April 2019 to develop and invest in existing water projects. The JV has a long-term plan to develop water projects in Egypt under the build-operate-own (BOO) or build-operate-transfer (BOT) frameworks, the statement said. It currently “provides upstream solutions for municipal and industrial clients, including water desalination, as well as wastewater and industrial water treatment.”

Context: Investment in water infrastructure is a priority for the Sisi administration, which last year said it could spend more than USD 50 bn to combat water scarcity through 2037. Those projects will ensure alternative sources of drinking water as climate change is a growing threat to water security and as Ethiopia has started to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Private companies have been investing heavily, acting primarily as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors to build and then manage the facilities under operations and maintenance (O&M) agreements. We took a deep dive into the water strategy in a January issue of our weekly infrastructure vertical, Hardhat.