Orascom Construction

Orascom Construction PLC (OC; اوراسكوم للإنشاء والصناعه) is an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor based in Cairo, Egypt. The company was Egypt's first multinational corporation and stands at the core of the Orascom Group companies. OC is active in more than 25 countries.

History


OC was established in Egypt in 1976 and then owned by Onsi Sawiris. As of 2007, it owned and operated cement plants in Egypt, Algeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, North Korea and Spain, which had a combined annual production capacity of tens of millions of tonnes. OC was the second company formed by Sawiris, having previously opened another construction company in Upper Egypt in 1950 which was nationalized under Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1961.

In December 2007, OC announced the divestment of its cement group, Orascom Building Materials Holding (OBMH), the holding company for its cement group assets, to the French Lafarge.

In July 2011, Orascom Construction won a $450 million bid in Saudi Arabia.

In September 2012, Orascom Construction expanded in the US by building a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Iowa and buying out The Weitz Company. In 2013, Cascade Investment invested $1 billion in Orascom Construction. Following this investment, a Netherlands-based company, OCI NV, was created, and became the parent company of Orascom Construction.

In March 2015, Orascom Construction shares started trading at the Dubai Financial Market and Cairo's Egyptian Exchange.

In July 2018, Orascom Construction partnered with Engie to build the largest wind farm in Egypt. In May 2019, the consortium Bombardier Inc., Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors won the contract to build two monorail lines in Cairo.

Sanctions
In 2013, Orascom Group agreed to pay up to $1 billion in tax fines to the Egyptian tax collector following irregularities in the 2007 sale to Lafarge.