UAE-based interior contracting firm Depa United Group (DUG) has joined hands with the Lindner Group, a leading German interior contractor, to form Lindner Depa Interiors, a joint venture company which will focus on consolidating Depa’s position in the Middle East and North Africa while broadening its services into airports and hospitals.

The new company will be able to provide its clients with comprehensive solutions that take advantage of Lindner’s specific airport and hospital industry expertise and Depa’s regional market leading position and experience.
“Lindner Depa Interiors will capitalise on the two partners’ long-term international contracting experience, global production facilities, and market knowledge to increase the company’s market share in the UAE as a start,” says Mohannad Sweid, CEO of Depa United Group. “I believe that fusing Depa's market know-how and first-class track record with Lindner’s long expertise in the field of complex interior fit-out will allow Lindner Depa Interiors to achieve huge successes in a short period of time,” he adds.
Depa's leading stature in the region with its specialisation in hotel and yachting industries, combined with Lindner’s European presence and specialisation in airports and other mass public transportation facilities, hospitals and banks will create a formidable organisation with a clear competitive edge.
Over the next few years an estimated Dh90 billion ($19 billion) is expected to be invested in airport infrastructure and projects in the UAE alone, and a further Dh49 billion ($13 billion) in the remaining five Gulf countries. Given these impressive facts, Lindner Depa Interiors will focus primarily in the UAE in its first year of operation, with a more aggressive regional expansion plan to follow. The company aims to expand its presence into the GCC and the wider Middle East and North African countries over this year and the next with a push into South Asia in 2010. The countries that Lindner Depa plans to operate in include the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Sudan, Yemen, Eretria, Ethiopia, India and Pakistan.
Lindner is the leading interior fit-out company in Europe, staffed with over 4,200 employees and a turnover of over €500 million ($738.8 million) in 2006. Lindner is headquartered in Germany where it maintains over 20 branches and eight subsidiaries while operating 30 subsidiaries in Europe and Asia.
“We are very excited about our new venture with Depa and believe that the synergies between both companies will create a new dynamic and forward-thinking business organisation which accords delivering client requirements and service quality the highest priority,” says Klaus Kulman, general manager of Lindner Depa Interiors. “We found a perfect match for us in Depa due to the fact that our current operations are very complementary to each other. By combining our efforts we will provide the market with a complete service from interior supply to contracting and building, covering all major vertical business sectors.”
Depa United Group is the world’s fifth largest company that specialises in interiors contracting and enjoys a high market share in the Middle East and North America (Mena) region and an exceptional track record of prominent projects in the UAE such as the Four Seasons Nile Plaza, Burj Al Arab, Abu Dhabi Conference Palace Hotel, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Grand Hyatt Dubai, The Fairmont Dubai, Ritz Carlton, Al Bustan Rotana Dubai, the Renaissance, Al Nahel Palace and the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea). Some of the company's other ongoing projects in Dubai include the iconic Burj Dubai and the Palm Jumeirah Shoreline Apartments.
In Oman, it has done work on the Grand Hyatt Muscat and the SAS Radisson Muscat, while in Bahrain it undertook renovation work on the Sheraton Bahrain. Its major projects in Egypt include the Crowne Plaza Sharm El Sheikh, Sheraton Alexandria, J W Marriott Mirage City Cairo, Hilton Luxor, and Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh. In Jordan, it has worked on the Sheraton, Grand Hyatt, InterContinental and Le Royale Amman.
Elsewhere, it has been involved with the Marriott Athens in Greece, Hilton hotels in Guam and Japan (Nagoya Osaka), the Sheraton Helsinki in Finland, the SAS Radisson Cannes in France and the Radisson Orlando in the US.
In addition to Lindner Depa Interiors, the group operates a range of businesses under its umbrella that includes Mivan Depa, Pino Meroni, Eldiar Furniture Manufacturing, Dragoni and Deco Emirates.