PRESENTATION AND TAKE - OVER OF UIC

Created in 1964, the “Union Industrielle pour le Cameroun – UIC”, specialises in the servicing and rehabilitation of fixed and mobile oil rigs, the fabrication of metal equipment, maintenance of industrial equipment, technical and logistic services as well as the design and follow-up of engineering projects. With 99.99% of its shares initially owned by BOUYGUES OFFSHORE, it became SAIPEM s.a. after being bought over by an Italian firm SAIPEM S.p.A. in 2002.

Its facilities cover a surface area of 50 000m² which offer a 200m long by 30m wide quay. These facilities enabled the construction and servicing of drilling equipment, leading to metallurgical production capable of attaining 1 500T per year with activities absorbing up to 40 000hrs of manpower per month. Besides other specialities in previous years, UIC also acquired a high reputation in the construction and repair of fixed oil platforms and the provision of other maritime industrial services. It also comprises a fully operational modern Design office for the design and follow-up of rehabilitation and construction engineering projects.

The idea of staging a take-over of UIC was spurred by CNIC’s desire to diversify its core activities. Possessing a total workforce of 114 employees, with 6 expatriates, UIC espoused CNIC’s vision of transfer of technology. In this context, buying over UIC was part of a Corporate Management vision to give more opportunities to CNIC in consolidating its place as a leading Shipyard with the technological know-how and industrial potentials required to service the needs of the booming oil industry and its international clientele in the Gulf of Guinea. The take-over of UIC materialised in October 2003 bringing in its wake the CNIC/UIC Corporate Industrial Complex.