Aecon, Canada's largest public construction and infrastructure development company, has signed a letter of intent to purchase oil sands mining contractor Cow Harbour Construction for $180 million.

French power giant GDF Suez is expected to announce it has taken over its UK rival International Power (IP) as early as tomorrow.

The two companies had resumed talks after failing to agree a deal earlier this year, with GDF now believed to be offering a special dividend of £1.3 billion to sweeten the agreement for IP investors.

A deal with GDF would create one of the world’s biggest independent power generators, with estimated sales of €13.5 billion. The enlarged group would keep the name International Power.

When Dubai dramatically fell victim to the global economic recession, the construction industry was hit harder than most. Electromechanical construction specialist Trans Gulf has come through it remarkably unscathed. General manager Sekhar Reddy explains to Gay Sutton how the company’s partnership policy and pragmatic approach to growth have stood it in good stead.

Jane Bordenave discovers how Thames Water, the UK’s biggest water company, is turning its customers’ flushes into energy and cost savings via its Poo Power initiative.

Australia is enjoying a boom in oil and gas exploration and development. Frans Roozendaal, managing director of Technip Oceania, tells Gay Sutton how the company is thriving in this increasingly competitive environment, and responding to the challenges it presents.

South Africa is continuing to embrace the need for change through its Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) initiative. Gavin Davids tells Andrew Pelis how management restructuring in line with BEE means the sky is now the limit for Ruwacon.

Perhaps the biggest industrial change in South Africa in recent times has been the introduction of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), a tool that encourages businesses to hire, train and give ownership to the country’s black community.

Warehousing and distribution in South Africa faces many challenges, from high maintenance costs through to the lack of a skilled workforce. Managing director David Leisegang discusses with Andrew Pelis how Rennies Distribution Services has continued to hold its own.

The Port of Durban, catering for all cargo sectors and especially containers, automotive and bulk liquids, continues with its infrastructure investment programme in order to meet the needs of shippers and the South African industries they serve. Dave Ward, project manager for Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), told John O’Hanlon how the Durban Harbour Entrance Widening & Deepening (DHEW) project is taking the port into the era of the big ships.

Providing a retail foodservice to a largely poor population throws up its own challenges, as Alan Swaby learns.

There won’t be many national chains of retailers anywhere in the world that have outlets measuring from just 100 square metres, but that’s the reality of doing business in Malawi.

One of South Africa’s foremost research institutes is still going strong after 76 years—and has plenty of innovations on the horizon too, as Alan Swaby learns.

For an organisation dedicated to scientific and industrial change, Mintek has seen its fair share of structural, political and commercial changes over the years.