Bilfinger Explained

Bilfinger SE
Type:Societas Europaea
Founder:Paul Bilfinger
Foundation:1880
Location:Mannheim, Germany
Key People:Eckhard Cordes (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Thomas Schulz (CEO)
Industry:Engineering and Services
Num Employees:29,756 (2021)
Homepage:www.bilfinger.com

Bilfinger SE (previously named Bilfinger Berger AG) is a European multinational company specialized in civil and industrial construction, engineering and services based in Mannheim, Germany.

History

Bilfinger dates back to 1880 when August Bernatz founded Bernatz Ingenieurwissenschaft as an engineering business: it became known, from 1886 as Bernatz & Grün and, from 1892, as Grün & Bilfinger when Paul Bilfinger replaced Bernatz as partner.[1]

During the Second World War, Grün & Bilfinger employed Jewish slave laborers from the Kovno Ghetto in occupied Lithuania where it was known for its brutal harassment of the Jewish slaves.[2]

In 1970, Grün & Bilfinger acquired a majority stake in Julius Berger-Bauboag AG, itself a merger of two companies, Julius Berger Tiefbau AG and Berlinische Boden-Gesellschaft AG, both founded in 1890. The combined business, fully integrated in 1975, finally took the name Bilfinger & Berger Bauaktiengesellschaft. In 1994 the acquisition of Razel Company took place.

In 2001 the business changed its name to Bilfinger Berger AG.

In 2005, Bilfinger bought all shares of Babcock Borsig Service Group from Deutsche Beteiligungs AG.[3] [4]

In 2008 the company sold Razel to group Fayat for 137 million euro.[5]

In October 2009 the company acquired directly MCE Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH itself, a business based in Linz focused on the design, construction and maintenance of facilities in the process industry and the energy sector.[6]

In June 2010, a prospectus was issued with the aim of listing Bilfinger Berger Australia on the Australian Securities Exchange via an initial public offering.[7] In July 2010 the listing was abandoned with a trade sale to Lendlease agreed in December 2010.[8] [9]

In 2010, services contributed to 80% of the company's total output volume of €8,123 million and EBIT for the services division amounted to €297 million.[10] In November 2011, Bilfinger acquired 98 percent of shares in Neo Structo Construction Private Ltd., located in Surat, India, for a purchase price of €47 million.[11] In 2010 Bilfinger became a Societas Europaea (SE).[12]

In December 2014 Bilfinger signed a deal to sell the construction division to Switzerland's Implenia AG. It had once been Germany's second largest builder.[13]

In June 2016 Bilfinger announced the sale of the facilities management and real estate business to Swedish financial investor EQT.[14]

In February 2018 the company announced that it would seek damages from the former directors of the company after alleged breaches in compliance and a series of acquisitions that failed to create shareholder value.[15] After securing shareholder consent in June 2020, Bilfinger reached a settlement with the former Executive Board members. The settlement with a total volume of €18.2 million ends the assertion of claims of for damages by Bilfinger.[16]

Operations

Bilfinger SE is a Deutsche Börse SDAX index traded, leading international industrial services provider. The portfolio covers the entire value chain from consulting, engineering, manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, plant expansion as well as turnarounds and also includes environmental technologies and digital applications.[17]
Bilfinger, as a result of numerous acquisitions and disposals, is no longer a traditional construction company but instead a provider of services for industrial plants, power plants and real estate.[18] In financial year 2019, revenues came from industrial and engineering services in the Chemical & Petrochemical (30%), Energy & Utilities (15%), Oil & Gas (30%), Pharma & Biopharma (10%), Metallurgy (5%) and Cement/Other (10%) industries.[19]

Ownership

The ownership of the business as at 31 December 2019 was as follows:[20]

PercentageInvestor
74.3% Institutional Investors
16.9% Undisclosed
8.9% Treasury Shares
26.8% Cevian Capital
14.4 %Institutional Investors Germany
10.9% Institutional Investors UK
9.4 % Institutional Investors USA
4.7 %Institutional Investors Switzerland
3.9 % Institutional Investors Scandinavia
2.6% Institutional Investors Spain
1.2% Institutional Investors France
2.3% Other Institutional Investors

Major projects

Major projects have included:

Controversies

In March 2009, a building collapsed in Cologne due to the nearby construction site for the Cologne Stadtbahn Nord-Süd-Stadtbahn . The collapse is suspected to be caused by the construction works, and to several irregularities.[37] [38] In June 2020, Bilfinger reached an out-of-court agreement that settles all civil claims arising from the collapse of the city’s municipal archive building.[39]

Several other construction projects are suspected to have been conducted with irregularities: the Düsseldorf Stadtbahn Wehrhahn-Linie, the Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway[37] [38] and the Bundesautobahn 1.[40]

In November 2018, Bilfinger was sued by Christopher Steele, who alleged that the company owed €150,000 for an investigation into Bilfinger's activities in Nigeria and Sakhalin.[41]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bilfinger - der internationale Engineering- und Servicekonzern - Bilfinger SE. 10 July 2015. bilfingerberger.com. 14 July 2015.
  2. Book: Tauber, Joachim. Arbeit als Hoffnung: jüdische Ghettos in Litauen 1941-1944. Berlin. De Gruyter Oldenbourg. 2015. 187. 978-3110414769.
  3. Web site: Bilfinger Berger is the new strategic investor. 2005-06-23. 2010-07-08.
  4. News: Deutsche Beteiligungs AG Divests Babcock Borsig Service. PRNewswire. 2005-03-09. 2010-07-09.
  5. http://www.alacrastore.com/deal-snapshot/FAYAT_SA_acquires_Razel_SA_from_Bilfinger_Berger_AG-534723 FAYAT SA acquires Razel SA from Bilfinger Berger AG
  6. http://www.bloomberg.co.jp/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=GBF:GR&sid=annsxVqFGFs4 Bilfinger Offers Remedies in European Union Review of MCE Deal
  7. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-06-08/german-giant-bilfinger-pushes-ahead-with-float/860724 German giant Bilfinger pushes ahead with float
  8. https://www.theage.com.au/business/bilfinger-berger-postpones-valemus-ipo-20100706-zy1e.html Bilfinger Berger postpones Valemus IPO
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20200317104601/https://www.lendlease.com/-/media/llcom/investor-relations/asx-announcements/2010/20101221-ll-acquire-aus-engineering-and-construction-businesses.pdf Lend Lease to acquire leading Australian engineering and construction businesses
  10. Bilfinger SE: Annual Report 2010, accessdate: 25. August 2011
  11. http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/10946861-german-bilfinger-berger-acquires-surat-based-neo-structo-construction German Bilfinger Berger Acquires Surat Based Neo Structo Construction
  12. http://www.allenovery.com/AOWEB/AreasOfExpertise/Editorial.aspx?contentTypeID=1&contentSubTypeID=7946&itemID=55789&prefLangID=410 Advising Bilfinger on transformation into SE
  13. Web site: Bilfinger Seals $282 Million Sale to Implenia to Exit Building. Bloomberg. 14 December 2014. 13 July 2015.
  14. Web site: EQT buys Bilfinger's building and facility division. FMJ. 3 June 2016. 20 March 2019. 11 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170811214454/http://www.fmj.co.uk/eqt-buys-bilfingers-building-facility-division/. dead.
  15. Web site: Bilfinger to seek compliance damages from former executives. 20 February 2018. Euro News. 20 March 2019. 21 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190321003140/https://www.euronews.com/2018/02/20/bilfinger-to-seek-compliance-damages-from-former-executives. dead.
  16. Web site: Bilfinger Shareholders Approve Settlement With Former Executive Board Members. July 10, 2020. FinanzNachrichten.
  17. http://www.bilfinger.com/en/company/about-us/profile/ Bilfinger company profile
  18. n-tv online, Abkehr vom Baugeschäft: Bilfinger Berger im Umbruch (13. März 2011), zuletzt retrieved, 24 August 2011
  19. Web site: Reporting Factbook. July 10, 2020. Bilfinger SE.
  20. Web site: Reporting Factbook. July 10, 2020. Bilfinger SE.
  21. Web site: Bilfinger - der internationale Engineering- und Servicekonzern - Bilfinger SE. 10 July 2015. bilfingerberger.com. 14 July 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100324054618/http://www.bilfingerberger.com/C1257130005050D5/vwContentByKey/W26U3AX8814LUNADE/%24FILE/bb_historie_en.html. 24 March 2010.
  22. Christian . Brockmann . Horst Rogenhofer . January–February 2000 . Bang Na Expressway, Bangkok, Thailand—World's Longest Bridge and Largest Precasting Operation . PCI Journal . 45 . 1 . 26–38 . 10.15554/pcij.01012000.26.38 . 2008-07-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110616224502/http://www.pci.org/view_file.cfm?file=JL-00-JANUARY-FEBRUARY-5.pdf . 2011-06-16 . dead .
  23. Web site: Thailand starts digging tunnels for 1st Bangkok subway. - Free Online Library . 2024-05-18 . www.thefreelibrary.com.
  24. Web site: Second Bridge over the Panama Canal. 5 December 2015.
  25. Web site: Bilfinger - der internationale Engineering- und Servicekonzern - Bilfinger SE. 10 July 2015. bilfingerberger.com. 14 July 2015.
  26. Web site: Bilfinger wins reprieved hospital project. 26 July 2001. Construction News. 21 April 2018.
  27. Web site: Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway. Mega project. 14 July 2015.
  28. Web site: London Array contract awarded to Bilfinger Berger. IJ Global. 4 November 2009. 14 July 2015.
  29. Web site: German Ship Lift Rebuilt as Stimulus Floods Waterways (Update1). bloomberg.com. 14 July 2015.
  30. http://www.bloomberg.co.jp/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=GBF:GR&sid=a4s1tLOlHK3Q German Construction Will See Contraction Ease in 2010
  31. Web site: ELIN Motoren. Elin Motoren. elinmotoren.at. 14 July 2015. 11 November 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131111154633/http://www.elinmotoren.at/News-Archiv-Detail.59.0.html?&no_cache=1&L=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=181&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=18&cHash=7bb9a284a8. dead.
  32. http://www.edinburghtrams.com/include/uploads/media_release/infraco_oct07.pdf Transport Initiatives Edinburgh Press Release
  33. Web site: KÖLN Nord-Süd-Stadtbahn. Schwandl . 15 December 2015. 12 October 2018.
  34. http://www.transco-sedrun.ch/1_DEU_HTML.htm Transco website
  35. Web site: Gotthard: A titanic tunnel . . EMAP Publishing Limited . 29 April 2010 . Martina . Booth . 15 July 2015.
  36. Web site: Bilfinger Berger completes phase I of Düsseldorf rail line . World Construction Network . 22 September 2010 . 14 July 2015 .
  37. News: Les combines des chantiers du métro minent le vieux Cologne . La Croix . 3 March 2010 . fr . La-Croix.com . 2013-06-10.
  38. News: En Allemagne, les graves malversations du numéro deux du BTP font scandale . Le Monde.fr . 2 March 2010 . fr . Lemonde.fr . 2013-06-10.
  39. Web site: Three big contractors agree €600m settlement for fatal collapse of Cologne archives building. July 10, 2020. Global Construction Review. July 2020 .
  40. Web site: Crumbling A1 motorway casts shadow on construction firm - The Local . Thelocal.de . 2013-06-10.
  41. News: Trump dossier author suing engineering firm for alleged unpaid work . November 8, 2018 . Luke . Harding . The Guardian.

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