TECHNOGUARD, a company of Sharaka Holdings Group, has partnered with Dorma to bring the market leader in door controls, glass fittings, movable walls and accessories to Qatar.

Vice chairman of Sharaka Holdings Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ahmad Al Thani and Dorma area president for the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa (MMA) region Christoph Jacob signed a landmark deal last month in the presence of an elite gathering of industry leaders, business owners and team members of both companies.

Commenting on the agreement, Jacob remarks: “Dorma is delighted to partner with TechnoGuard and the Sharaka Holdings Group as both companies share a similar history, commitment to quality and strong value system. Both companies started out as family businesses. Today they are market leaders in their respective industries, rapidly adding products, services and value to the markets they serve. I believe we have found the perfect partner in Qatar and consider this to be the start of a spectacular partnership.”

Sharaka Holdings recently launched its new corporate identity. Formerly known as The General Trading Group, the group has over the past four decades grown from a family business to a family of businesses.

“Qatar is going through an electrifying phase of growth,” comments Sheikh Abdulaziz. “This is an opportune time to partner in the country’s exciting growth story.”

TechnoGuard has already established a position of market dominance. The company is involved in numerous prestigious projects in Qatar. With an impressive line-up of new projects on the cards, the TechnoGuard–Dorma partnership promises to bring considerable impetus and momentum to the company.

Headquartered in Ennepetal, Germany, Dorma operates on an international scale with 71 wholly-owned companies in 47 different countries. It is a globally active supplier of door technology products and systems. With more than 100 years of tradition behind it, the company has developed into the world market leader in door controls, movable walls and glass fittings and accessories. In the automatics segment too, the company is a member of the world elite.

Dorma is also a successful player in the security, time management and access control segment and the number one in Germany for emergency exit control and escape route security systems. Dorma maintains major production plants in Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, China and North and South America. With an international workforce of around 6,500 employees, the group realised sales of €856 million ($1.16 billion) in fiscal year 2009/10.

Meanwhile, a dominant entity in Qatar, Sharaka Holdings has a lineage of over 40 years. With a workforce in excess of over 2,500 trained professionals, the company has earned a reputation of being one of the most credible and well-respected groups in Qatar today.

Sharaka’s advantage is its innate dynamism, powerful brand equity, robust fundamentals and diversity spanning eight important sectors namely: real estate development, property development, contracting, manufacturing, trading, education, restaurants and specialised services.

Importantly, Sharaka has the unique competitive advantage of being able to provide total contracting solutions to the construction industry; from turnkey contracting and MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) solutions to ironmongery and door access systems. It is this exceptional value proposition that sets the company apart from others in the country.