Senaat, the state-owned Industrial company, and Tubacex, a Spanish manufacturer of stainless steel and other products, agreed to jointly acquire Nobu Group, which specialises in manufacturing and repair services of tubes, for an undisclosed sum. Nobu has locations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway and a workforce of more than 200 people, Senaat said in a statement on Wednesday. “Senaat’s new partnership with Tubacex is consistent with the company’s strategy of seeking to partner with global organisations to grow the UAE’s manufacturing base,” said Jamal Al Dhaheri, chief executive of Senaat. “Our new partnership also fits closely with our existing focus on the oil and gas industry and will add further impetus to our efforts to drive shareholder value, as can already be demonstrated by the acquisition of Nobu.” Senaat manages more than Dh27.2 billion worth of assets for companies, including the UAE’s largest steel producer, Emirates Steel, and two entities from the aluminium sector. The holding company is mandated to execute industrial sector activity through investments in metals, oil and gas services and construction, as well as food and beverage manufacturing. It is also a key investor in the oil and gas sector through its unit NPCC, an oil and gas services company as well as its recent partnership with Japan’s JFE and Misi through Al Gharbia, a line pipe manufacturing company. “We are keen to expand our oil and gas product portfolio to take advantage of the massive sector development programmes recently outlined by Adnoc and several other Nocs [national oil companies] in the region,” said Mr Al Dhaheri.