* Wants to build up a strong base in Asia
* Could issue shares again to finance takeover bid
(Adds more detail from interview)
By Greg Roumeliotis
ARNHEM, Netherlands, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Dutch property and engineering consultancy Arcadis NV has appointed a bank to advise on takeover targets in Asia, where commercial development markets are bucking the weak trend in Europe.
Around 50 percent of Arcadis's buildings division revenue comes from the commercial sector, and this segment has been heavily hit by the financial downturn, the company's chief executive Harrie Noy told Reuters.
"The downturn in commercial property is tremendous. I have never seen anything like this before," Noy said.
One bright exception is China, where the commercial development market is doing well and accounts for 80 percent of the order intake of the firm's architectural practice, he added.
Arcadis is now looking for acquisitions in Asia to create a strong base in that part of the world, he said.
"It would most likely be (a company) with a buildings or infrastructure focus or a combination of those two," he said.
Issuing new shares to finance such a move, as Arcadis did last summer to take over U.S. environmental consultancy Malcolm Pirnie, was a possibility, but only if it could convince shareholders that it would create value for them, he added.
TOP FIVE STRATEGY
As a consultancy, Arcadis secures its contracts mostly through client relationships, and for this it is important to have a top five position in the countries it operates in, Noy said.
Arcadis is number one in Poland and the Benelux, in the top three in the Czech Republic, Brazil and Chile and in the top five in Germany and France, he said.
"There is no country where our backlog is so high as in Poland, due to (the country's) huge infrastructure investments, driven by EU funds, and we are involved in quite a few tendering procedures there," Noy said.
Europe is carrying on with major infrastructure programmes and removing regulatory hurdles blocking investment, he said, while the U.S. has introduced a significant stimulus package that Arcadis estimates could provide up to $150 billion in infrastructure investment.
In the U.S. the firm was recently selected as a prime contractor in the $3 billion environmental remediation and site cleanup programme of the U.S. Air Force.
"I'm quite confident that we can get a decent piece of the cake, and this is a big cake," said Noy, adding that this was an important entry ticket that could lead to more contracts.
Also of interest to Arcadis is providing environmental remediation services for energy majors, such as BP, and developing and selling hydroelectric power plants in Brazil, he said. (Editing by Will Waterman)