Leighton Holdings

Leighton Holdings is a leading international contractor.^[1] It is active in the telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources, and environmental services industries. It has operations in Australia, South East Asia, New Zealand, and the Middle East.

History

Founded in 1949 by Stanley Leighton, an Englishman, Leighton Holdings was first listed on the Melbourne Stock Exchange in 1962. It established an operation in Asia, known as Leighton Asia in 1975.

In March 2014, the majority owner of Leighton, Hochtief, installed its own CEO, Marcelino Fernandez Verdes, as the firm’s CEO.^[2]

In June 2014, CEO Marcelino Fernandez Verdes elevated to executive chairman following the retirement of board member Bob Humphris.^[3]

Operations

Leighton Contractors

Leighton Contractors is the core contracting business around which the rest of the structure of the Leighton Group has been formed.

John Holland Group

Leighton Holdings owns the John Holland Group, another Australian construction group. Founded in 1949 by John Holland (later Sir John Holland),^[4] this entity built Parliament House in Canberra in joint venture with Concrete Constructions, a structure completed in 1988.^[5] It has recently been awarded the contract to expand Melbourne Airport.^[6] The holding in John Holland was acquired in two stages: an initial 70% in 2000 and an extra 29% in 2004. The final 1% was finalised in December 2007. John Holland Group holds an investment in the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium.

The John Holland Group owns 20% of Metro Trains Melbourne, the consortium has been running Melbourne's suburban railway network since 30 November 2009.

In December 2014, Leighton Holdings entered a binding agreement for the sale of John Holland to Chinese construction giant, CCCC International Holding Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese Communications Construction Company. The sale of John Holland was completed for approximately A$1.15 billion.^[7]

Thiess

Leighton Holdings also owns Thiess, an Australian integrated construction, mining and services provider, and Thiess Services, an environmental and utilities contracting organisation and an subsidiary of parent company Thiess. Originating in Queensland in 1934, Thiess became a part of the Leighton Group in 1983 when Hochtief first bought shares in Leighton.

Middle East

The business owns a 45% share in the Al Habtoor Leighton Group, one of the leading construction groups in the Middle East.

Leighton Asia, India and offshore

The business operates in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Philippines and Mongolia as well as oceangoing barges.

Leighton Properties

The business is a property development company in commercial, residential and mixed-use precincts, established in 1972 and operating in Australia.

Major projects

Major projects undertaken by Leighton Holdings include the Ross River Dam completed in 1971,^[8] the Anglo-Australian Observatory completed in 1971,^[8] the Burdekin Dam completed in 1987,^[8] Brisbane Airport completed in 1988,^[8] the ABC Centre in Ultimo completed in 1991,^[8] the Eastern Distributor tunnel completed in 1999,^[9] the Clem Jones Tunnel completed in 2010,^[10] the Gateway Bridge Duplication completed in 2011,^[11] and the Airport Link in Brisbane which was opened in 2012.^[12]

Ownership

About 55% of the shares in Leighton Holdings are held by Hochtief.^[13]

References

External links

• Leighton Holdings official website