Turkey’s Rönesans company to renovate iconic Amsterdam stadium

ISTANBUL

Ballast Nedam, owned by Turkey’s Rönesans Holding, will undertake the renovation works of the Amsterdam ArenA stadium, one of the hosts of the 2020 European Championships, said the company in a statement on Feb. 1. 

Rönesans Holding, which is the 10th largest construction company in Europe according to the ENR List, also noted that it had eyes on new opportunities in other stadium projects along with Ballast Nedam, which was acquired by the Turkish group in 2015. 

In the period 1993-1996, Ballast Nedam constructed the ArenA in cooperation with BAM, and Ballast Nedam is founder of the Amsterdam ArenA, according to the statement. 

A component of this is the founder agreement that was entered into with the Amsterdam ArenA. This agreement will be extended to 2026 and both parties are looking at possible partnering in various international stadium projects, reads the statement.

Rönesans Holding Founder Erman Ilıcak said a total of 130 million euros in capital was transferred to Ballast Nedam after the acquisition deal was finalized; adding that the company reached 760 million euros in revenue in 2016 and their aim is to double this by 2019. 

“We are here not to do small things, but to achieve a success story. Ballast Nedam has already been quite strong in achieving major infrastructure projects. This know-how can be combined with the Rönesans brand across various markets and new countries. In the next four-five years, our target country will be the Netherlands, which fuel great potential for the large construction projects. Our aim is to double our business volume by 2019,” Ilıcak said. 

The planned renovation in the Amsterdam ArenA will be the largest since its opening in 1996, according to the statement. 

“In the past 20 years, the ArenA continued to invest in quality, innovation and sustainability. The coming major renovation also fits within that vision. In this way, the ArenA remains ‘up to date’ and continues to play in the major league of football stadiums. We are looking forward to the cooperation with Ballast Nedam, who was a partner from the very start, and to the start of the new construction on the east side of the stadium,” said Henk Markerink, CEO of the Amsterdam ArenA.