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
Head office in Mannheim
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.[2]
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.[3]
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.[2] In 1994 the acquisition of Razel Company took place.[2]
In 2001 the business changed its name to Bilfinger Berger AG.[2]
In 2008 the company sold Razel to group Fayat for 137 million euro.[6]
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.[7]
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.[11] 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.[12] In 2010 Bilfinger became a Societas Europaea (SE).[13]
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.[14]
In June 2016 Bilfinger announced the sale of the facilities management and real estate business to Swedish financial investor EQT.[15]
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.[16] 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.[17]
Operations
Bilfinger Logo at the entrance of Head Office (2012)
Bilfinger SE is a Deutsche BörseSDAX 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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20]
Ownership
The ownership of the business as at 31 December 2019 was as follows:[21]
In March 2009, a building collapsed in Cologne due to the nearby construction site for the Cologne StadtbahnNord-Süd-Stadtbahn(in German). The collapse is suspected to be caused by the construction works, and to several irregularities.[39][40] 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.[41]
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.[43]
