Aggreko celebrates Olympic deal

Aggreko provides temporary power to a stadium in the US

A Glasgow-based firm has secured its place at the Beijing Olympics after winning a £17.7m contract to provide temporary power at the games in August.

Aggreko will provide power to 40 Olympic venues in six cities.

The firm - which has experience at the US Superbowl - described the contract as one of the largest awarded for temporary power at a sporting event.

Aggreko will employ about 200 staff on the contract, many of whom will be recruited in China.

Equipment will be used to power lighting and camera equipment in the stadia as well as powering the international broadcasting centre.

Competitive advantage

Mike Murphy, an analyst at Panmure Gordon stockbrokers, said the deal highlighted the competitive advantages held by Aggreko.

He said: "We doubt any of its competitors has the scope and scale to provide the power requirements."

The Olympics contract comes a month after Aggreko said it expected its 2007 performance to be "somewhat ahead" of current market expectations, with operating profits likely to be 50% higher in sterling terms.

The Beijing contract underlined the benefit of Aggreko's acquisition of GE Energy Rentals, which it completed at the end of 2006 in a deal worth 212 million US dollars (£107.4m).

GE worked at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and operated from 35 locations worldwide at the time of the takeover.

Aggreko was founded in 1962 in the Netherlands and demerged from Salvesen Group in 1997 to become a listed company on the London Stock Exchange.

It now has a presence in 29 countries and employs more than 2,200 people.