International Airlines Group (IAG) and Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa have reached a binding agreement for IAG to acquire UK-based airline British Midland Limited (bmi).

IAG will pay £172.5 million for bmi, which consists of three distinct business units—bmi mainline, bmi regional and bmibaby.

Canadian business software company Intelex is to open its first overseas office in the United Kingdom.

The office will open in London in February 2012, and will serve as a beachhead for the company’s coming European and Eurasian expansion, as well as helping to serve existing clients in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Stephen Ross, Intelex’s vice president of sales and a 10-year veteran of the Intelex team, will relocate to London, England, to help launch the new office.

Sulaiman Al-Rumaih, vice president of the Energy and Industrial division of the Tamimi Group, talks about the dynamic expansion of the business within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and beyond. Jayne Alverca reports.

Henk Pauw, CEO of Sohar Aluminium, talks to Gay Sutton about the company’s role in promoting industry in Oman and creating jobs for local people.

Nyanza Bottling Company Limited (NBCL), a joint venture between Sumaria Corporation and the CMG Group of Companies, is one of East Africa’s most dynamic companies. Christopher M Gachuma talks to Jayne Alverca about his passion for excellence.

Steel making facilities in Singapore are among the most modern and ecologically sound to be found anywhere, as Alan Swaby learns.

There’s no doubt that Singapore punches well above its weight. Barely 40 kilometres at its widest, the island is so developed that buildings can only go skywards. And despite decades of development, work continues at a rapid rate, with the construction industry consuming over 1.25 million tons of reinforcing steelwork each year.

Eti Aluminyum of Turkey has the rare distinction of possessing one of a very small number of fully integrated facilities in the world. General manager Mehmet Arkan talks to Julia Smith about the company’s capabilities and plans.

ECG Engineering Consultants Group S.A. is a group of highly qualified consultants whose expertise in large and complex projects covers all major disciplines of design and construction management/supervision and lies behind some truly outstanding building throughout the Middle East and beyond.

Afric Oil, South Africa’s first BEE oil company, is embarking on a strategy to achieve security of supply and growth in the marketplace, as finance director Mangadi Dikotla explains to Gay Sutton.

UK-based Subsea 7 has won a contract worth $185 million from Elf Exploration UK on the West Franklin Field in the Central Graben area of the North Sea.

The scope of the subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) contract includes engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and commissioning of the Sealine Package associated with the West Franklin Phase 2 Development.