Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, wholly owned by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has announced the acquisition of the French technology services provider Cegelec.

A global leader in the technological services market for the past 20 years, Cegelec caters to a wide range of clients, including small size enterprises, large international groups, public and local authorities.

Cegelec designs, installs and maintains systems and sub-systems for the industrial, infrastructure and tertiary sectors.

The main line of business of the newly-acquired Cegelec will be infrastructure, power, oil and gas. The company which is well established in Europe will continue to concentrate on its earlier activities in Qatar, the Peninsula reported.

According to media reports, French construction groups Vinci and Eiffage, as well as Russian investment fund Pamplona were in the race to buy Cegelec.

Diar acquired Cegelec after staving off competition from four other international companies, said Yousef Ahmed Al Hammadi, chairman of the Executive Committee supervising Cegelec from Qatari Diar.

“The acquisition by Qatari Diar is for investment purpose. Cegelec is a huge company with huge capabilities, thus it is an added value to Qatari Diar. The aim is to have technology transfer and to improve our human resources capabilities in various fields,” he was quoted as saying in the Peninsula.

He pointed out that the Qatari Diar would be utilising the Cegelec training facilities to improve its human resources.

“We are working on setting up a training facility in Qatar and we will be coordinating in setting up common programmes to improve our HR capabilities utilising Cegelec experience,” he added.

“Now we will be concentrating more in Qatar and we are working to open a Cegelec office for the Middle East in Qatar,” Claude Darmon, president of Cegelec told reporters after announcing the acquisition of the company by Qatari Diar.

Qatari Diar officials said that as part of its family, Cegelec will now benefit from a stable backer, combining financial strength and strong experience in successful partnerships with major international groups.

Qatari Diar will further reinforce Cegelec’s position in its key markets, particularly in France and Europe, and support its international and regional development, especially in the Middle East, and most importantly, in the local Qatari market, the officials said.