Honolulu-based contractor Watts Constructors LLC is slated to be absorbed into a global construction company headquartered in Egypt as part of a sale of the mainland owner of Watts.
The Des Moines, Iowa-based parent of Watts, The Weitz Co., plans to sell itself to Orascom Construction Industries, a contractor and fertilizer producer based in Cairo.
As part of the deal, Watts will be merged with Orascom’s Virginia-based subsidiary Contrack International.
The merger is expected to expand opportunities for Watts, which will remain headquartered in Honolulu, where it employs about 30 people. Watts also has offices in Guam, Florida, Washington and Colorado.
Watts concentrates on government projects. Its work has included a fuel pipeline and the new museum and visitor center at Pearl Harbor, a naval hospital and wharf improvements in Guam, and a river water treatment facility in Washington.
Contrack International pursues overseas projects for the federal government, primarily in the Middle East and Central Asia. The company has roughly 10,000 employees and has completed more than $2 billion in work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Afghanistan.
Weitz Co., an employee-owned firm, announced its sale plan earlier this month. A purchase price was not disclosed. All Weitz Co. staff will be retained after the sale, which is undergoing due diligence that could take up to two months.
Watts was formed in 1993 as a female-owned small business operating primarily as a subcontractor in San Francisco. The firm later known as Miller/Watts Constructors and based in Honolulu merged with Weitz Co. in 2006 in a move that provided greater bonding capacity and resources.
The sale of Weitz Co. to Orascom will position Orascom for federal government work in the U.S. through Watts, which has more than $400 million in federal contracts largely in this country. Conversely, Watts is positioned to take on more work outside the U.S.
"This natural partnership will open the doors to a global federal entity for the two companies," said an announcement released Tuesday by Contrack International.
