After a tough 2017, Red Sea Housing is looking to new markets following the acquisition of a Dubai-based temporary building and warehouse company.

Red Sea Housing, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia-based modular buildings manufacturer Red Sea International, announced on Monday that it had acquired Modular Rental Solutions as a means to diversify its interests in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

The acquisition is part of the process of setting up a new division, Red Sea Rental Services, which will serve the rental market for ‘modular’ or temporary buildings – a service already provided by Modular Rental Solutions.

Modular Rental Solutions’ business is in providing temporary buildings across sectors, including remote locations for oil and gas and construction clients. 

Rakhi Raghavan, Red Sea Housing’s global marketing and PR manager, told Zawya that the acquisition of Modular Rental Solutions would help the company appeal to a more ‘consumer centric’ market while offering additional services to existing clients.

“We see the market, we know the clients, they have been in this business for a long time. It has been pressing times and clients would like more financial options for completing their projects, so renting is important. We want to make sure these services are available.”

She added: “It’s part of our strategy for diversification where we want to look into more consumer-centric events and entertainment - one off, one-time events.”

Paul Blackwell, managing partner of Modular Rental Solutions, said in response to emailed questions from Zawya that “While Red Sea has historically been very successful in the operating and leasing models of modular solutions across the globe, Modular Rental Solutions’ focus has been catered to shorter-term rentals in and around the GCC, with a particular focus in the UAE and Oman.

“The Modular Rentals platform was developed on a system where a single structural model could be used to produce multiple types of building concepts, in several sectors ranging from events, defence, construction, oil and gas and exhibitions or the like.”

Blackwell added that the company specialised in a fast handover period of 24 hours, from office facilities to camps in remote locations, as well as clinics, security offices, events and exhibition facilities.

In statements to Tadawul, Red Sea International, which currently has a presence in 65 countries, including a low-cost housing division in Brazil, reported a loss of 65.3 million Saudi riyals ($17.4 million) in 2017, followed by further a further loss of 25.2 million riyals in the first half of 2018 as revenues slipped by 18.1 percent year-on-year to 348.9 million riyals.

The acquisition of Modular Rental Solutions follows an alliance agreement signed by Red Sea Housing Services Company last month with Rental Solutions and Services Company - a provider of temporary generator and cooling systems, which is also based in Dubai.

(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; Editing by Michael Fahy)

(Imogen.lillywhite@refinitiv.com)

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