British company RMC Group announced in Amman on Thursday, February 6, its withdrawal from the Jordanian market and the sale of its stake in the local company, Al-Ramz Ready Mix, to a Jordanian investor. The move came after disappointing corporate results which Al-Ramz attributes to the unions who have put it on the black list alleging it was an Israeli company.
“Over the past seven years, the company has been excluded from participation in many projects and contracts,” said John Robinson, an RMC Group executive and Deputy Chairman of Al-Ramz, in an interview with MenaReport.com. He pointed out that “RMC Group spent a lot of time and effort in the Jordanian market to build a successful company.”
Robinson said the decision to pull out of the Jordanian market has come as a result of the company’s unimpressive results.
“We were happy to invest in the Jordanian market and we are now sorry to pull out. However we are confident that the company will continue operating after it has been sold to a local investor, and we wish the new owners and employees every success in the future” added Robinson.
Jordanian investors have purchased the company which will be renamed Jerusalem Ready Mix Cement Company. The new investor said that the company’s management would, in an attempt at restructuring the business, decrease assets by 50% and close its plants outside the Jordanian capital Amman.
Economic observers have pointed out to menareport.com that the Jordanian market has lost the largest international ready mix company, and with that lost future investments in the Kingdom as well as valuable foreign experience which the UK partner had accumulated over many years.
The Jordanian investor declined to give more details about the company’s purchase deal and preferred to remain anonymous for the time being.
RMC began its activities in Jordan in 1997 with the hope of benefiting from investment opportunities following Jordan’s peace accords with Israel and the optimistic growth expectations of the former’s construction sector.
The company’s investments in the Jordanian market amounted to six million Jordanian Dinars (JDs) with annual sales ranging between five to five and-a-half million JDs. The company has 85 Jordanian employees on its payroll. -- (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
