UAE’s EDGE Group and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri stand up $32 billion JV

BEIRUT and BELFAST — Emirati defense conglomerate EDGE Group has entered a joint venture (JV) today with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, worth up to €30 billion ($32 billion), putting the Middle East industry giant on track to produce Fincantieri’s vessels in Abu Dhabi for non-NATO countries.

Holding a 51 percent stake in the JV, EDGE will contribute to the new alliance with “subsystems, G2G [government to government], commercial pipeline and financing for large deals,” an EDGE Group spokesperson told Breaking Defense. Fincantieri will provide management and guidance, according to the firm’s statement.

“The Abu Dhabi-based JV will be awarded prime rights to non-NATO orders, especially leveraging on the attractiveness of UAE G2G arrangements and export credit financing packages, along with a number of strategic orders placed by select NATO member countries,” EDGE Group said in a statement.

The EDGE Group spokesperson told Breaking Defense that the JV will also cooperate with “some NATO strategic countries.”

In 2023, EDGE Group signed a deal with the Angolan Navy worth €1 billion ($1.1 billion) to build Angola’s fleet of 71-meter corvettes in Abu Dhabi Ship Building shipyards. Previously, the Emirati conglomerate had only one shipbuilding firm, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, but the partnership with Fincantieri constitutes a large leap in its naval development programs and ambitions.

“This strategic agreement significantly enhances EDGE’s ability to design and build frigates and other large vessels, broadening its range of operations and marking a crucial advancement in the diversification of its maritime solutions portfolio,” according to the firm’s statement.

The statement added that the JV will help the Emirati firm develop an underwater program for mid-size submarines.

“Through this transformative joint venture with Fincantieri, we are not just expanding EDGE’s diverse capabilities in shipbuilding but setting a new benchmark for collaboration and knowledge exchange in the global maritime industry,” Hamad Al Marar, EDGE Group Managing Director and CEO, said in a statement.

The JV will retain exclusive rights to all future designs, added the statement. Commenting on Intellectual Property [IP] rights, the EDGE Group spokesperson said, “IP will be under the JV, which will be an Abu Dhabi Company.”

Fincantieri Group CEO and Managing Director Pierroberto Folgiero said in a statement that cooperation with EDGE aims at “creating a unique industrial platform able to address with maximum entrepreneurship and distinctive competencies the sizable market opportunities originated in UAE and from UAE to the international markets.”

In a February 2023 interview with Breaking Defense, Folgiero forecast his focus on the Middle East as a growth opurtuntiy, saying at the time that “The natural market of a Southern European country like we are geopolitically and commercially is North Africa [and the] Middle East.”

The Emirati heavyweight is concentrating on catching up on deliveries and expects to deliver on a $1 billion export target for 2024, according to its newly appointed CEO.

Fincantieri spoke of expanding company growth in the Middle East at the World Defense Show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier this month, where it also unveiled a FCx30 multirole frigate modular design concept.