MONTE CARLO (Monaco): Mohed Altrad, the country winner for France, has been declared the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of The Year (WEOY) 2015. Altrad was picked from among the 65 country winners from 53 countries vying for the title.

In the next five to 10 years, Altrad, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Montpellier-based Altrad Group, hopes to make a footprint in the US market, he told members of the press after he was announced the winner at the WEOY 2015 gala dinner at the Salle des Etoiles here on Saturday.

“We have been concentrated in Europe where the locations are close [to each other] and that has made sense. But of course now want to move into the United States,” Altrad said.

The group’s largest turnover comes from France, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany. It has a presence in 100 nations worldwide.

The Syrian-born French citizen transformed the company, which was bankrupt when he bought it 30 years ago, into a global construction equipment and scaffolding manufacturer.

Last year, Altrad’s profit before tax amounted to some €200 million, Altrad said, adding that this might grow to €250 million (RM1.04 billion) in 2016. Altrad made about €900 million in sales in 2014.

“Over 30 years we have had an average double-digit growth each year and we have never lost money,” he said.

Last year, India took home the award, preceded by the US, Kenya and Singapore in 2013, 2012 and 2011 respectively.

The Ernst & Young WEOY event has been running since 2001 and the number of participating countries has been growing steadily.

In the last 10 years, participation has more than doubled, totalling 53 countries this year compared with 19 in the inaugural year.

New entrants to the competition this year were Belarus, Croatia, Peru and Romania.

The 2015 country winners have a combined revenue of US$38 billion (RM142.88 billion), which has grown on an average 42% in the last three years, according to EY. The average revenue raked in by each of these companies is US$720 million.

Malaysia was represented by Goh Peng Ooi, founder and group executive chairman of Silverlake Axis Ltd. The Singapore-listed company provides banking software and systems to Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Silverlake now has a market capitalisation of over S$2.3 billion (RM6.37 billion).

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 8, 2015.