The construction industry is not well-represented on the region’s stock markets. Dubai-listed Arabtec Holding is one of the few public construction companies in the Middle East, as the sector has traditionally been dominated by privately-held family businesses, which remains the status quo today.

This situation could start to change in 2015, when Arabtec starts to launch initial public offerings (IPOs) in markets across the region and beyond. These subsidiary companies will allow Arabtec to grow into new geographical markets, but crucially, they will also enable the firm to merge with or acquire other privately held companies.

Arabtec is already one of the region’s largest and most active contractors. It currently has a backlog of nearly AED40bn ($10.9bn), which is expected to grow substantially during 2014. So far, the firm’s growth has been largely organic. It has acquired smaller local operations such as Target Engineering and Emirates Falcon Electromechanical Company (Efeco), but most of its growth over the past decade has come from the expansion of its main subsidiary, Arabtec Construction.

Since taking over control of the company in 2012, managing director and CEO Hasan Ismaik has developed a bold and aggressive strategy that he hopes will make Arabtec the region’s largest construction company.

So far, he has bought the remaining shares in subsidiaries such as Target and Efeco and has formed joint ventures with South Korean firms Samsung Engineering and GS Engineering & Construction to give Arabtec access to the oil and gas and heavy civil infrastructure sectors.

Those moves are expected to bear fruit during 2014 and deliver continued growth for the company. As Ismaik’s attentions start to turn to IPOs and possible mergers and acquisitions, the potential for growth will be even greater from 2015 onwards.