Vinci is a French concessions and construction company, formerly called Société Générale d'Enterprises. It employs over 179,000 people and is the largest construction company in the world by revenue. Vinci is listed at Euronext

Euronext

Euronext N.V. is a pan-European stock exchange based in Amsterdam and with subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In addition to equities and derivatives markets, the Euronext group provides clearing and information services...

's Paris stock exchange and is a member of the CAC 40

CAC 40

The CAC 40 is a benchmark French stock market index. The index represents a capitalization-weighted measure of the 40 most significant values among the 100 highest market caps on the Paris Bourse...

 index. Its head office is in Rueil-Malmaison

Rueil-Malmaison

Rueil-Malmaison is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of France. It is located 12.6 kilometers from the center of Paris.-Name:...

.

History

The company was founded by Alexandre Giros and Louis Loucheur

Louis Loucheur

Louis Loucheur was a French politician in the Third Republic, at first a member of the conservative Republican Federation, then of the Democratic Republican Alliance and of the Independent Radicals.-Life:Coming from a background in the arms industry, Loucheur became Minister of Munitions in...

 as Société Générale d’Entreprises S.A. (SGE) in 1899.

In 1986 SGE acquired Sogea, a business founded in 1878.

In 1988 the company acquired Campenon Bernard, a business founded in 1920.

In 1991 SGE acquired Norwest Holst, a company founded in 1969.

In 2000 it changed its name to Vinci.

In 2001 it acquired Groupe GTM itself a combination of Dumez, founded in 1880, and GTM founded in 1891.

In 2006 the company acquired Autoroutes du Sud de la France (the Southern Freeways Company).

In February 2007 Vinci completed the acquisition of Soletanche-Bachy, the world-leading geotechnical specialist contractor.

In 2008, VINCI created the think tank

Think tank

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

 The City Factory.

In 2010, VINCI acquired Cegelec

Cegelec

Cegelec is a European company providing technological services to companies and public authorities. It has a workforce of 25,000 and has a presence in 30 countries. It has been a subsidiary of Vinci since 2010....

 and the European aggregates businesses of Tarmac

Tarmac (company)

Tarmac is a company that is based in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom and operates internationally. The company produces aggregates and road-surfacing materials, including tarmacadam, from which the company's name is derived...

.

Ownership

SGE was owned by Compagnie générale d'électricité (CGE), now Alcatel

Alcatel

Alcatel Mobile Phones is a brand of mobile handsets. It was established in 2004 as a joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent of France and TCL Communication of China....

, from 1966 to 1984, then by Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain S.A. is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of construction and high-performance materials.The company has its head...

 from 1984 to 1988, and then by Compagnie générale des eaux, now Vivendi

Vivendi

Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...

, from 1988 to 2000.

Financial data

Financial Data in euro millions

Year	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Sales	17 331	17 172	17 554	18 100	19 520	21 543	25 634
EBITDA EBITDA EBITDA is an acronym for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It is a non-GAAP metric that is measured exactly as stated. All interest, tax, depreciation and amortization entries in the income statement are reversed out from the bottom-line net income...	1 122	1 557	1 664	1 778	2 021	2 150	3 946
Net Result share of the group	423	453	470	541	731	871	1 270
Net Debt	1 855	2 072	2 493	2 266	2 285	1 579	14 796
Staff	122 070	129 499	127 380	127 513	128 433	133 513	142 500

Source :'OpesC'

Turnover analysis

The turnover is split as follows:

• design and construction of works (43.6%): primarily in the fields of building, civil engineering and hydraulics
• design, construction, renovation and upkeep of roads (30%; Eurovia): roads, highways, and rail roads. The group is also active in urban design and granulate production
• design, execution, and maintenance of energy and telecom infrastructures (16.3%)
• sub-contracted infrastructure management (9.6%): primarily managing roads and highways (mainly through Cofiroute), parking areas, airport activities (No. 3 worldwide for ground services)
• other (0,5%): particularly real estate activities

The company operates under the VINCI Park brand a number of underground parking garages which it built in Paris (e.g. under the Champs-Élysées

Champs-Élysées

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...

) and elsewhere.

Major projects

Vinci and its predecessor companies has been involved in many major projects including the Gariep Dam

Gariep Dam

Gariep Dam is a dam in South Africa, near the town of Norvalspont, Free State, province South Africa.-Overview:The Gariep Dam was originally called the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam after the first Prime Minister of the Republic of South Africa Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd on its commission in 1971...

 completed in 1971, the Tour Montparnasse

Tour Montparnasse

Tour Maine-Montparnasse , also commonly named Tour Montparnasse, is a tall office skyscraper located in Paris, France, in the area of Montparnasse. Constructed from 1969 to 1972, it was the tallest skyscraper in France until 2011, when it was surpassed in height by the Tour First...

 completed in 1972, the Centre Georges Pompidou

Centre Georges Pompidou

Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...

 completed in 1977, the Yamoussoukro Basilica

Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro is a Roman Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, the administrative capital of Côte d'Ivoire . The basilica was constructed between 1985 and 1989 at a cost of $300 million...

 completed in 1989, the new visitor entrance to the Louvre

Louvre

The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...

 completed in 1989, the Channel Tunnel

Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...

 completed in 1994, the Pont de Normandie completed in 1995, the Stade de France

Stade de France

The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...

 completed in 1998 and the Rio-Antirio bridge

Rio-Antirio bridge

The Rion-Antirion bridge , officially the Charilaos Trikoupis bridge after the statesman who first envisaged it, is the world's longest multi-span cable-stayed bridge...

, completed in 2004.

Criticism

Vinci is involved in construction of the first 43 km of the Moscow-St.Petersburg toll road through the valuable Khimki Forest

Khimki Forest

Khimki Forest is a birch tree forest in the Russian city of Moscow covering about 1000 hectares. It is part of the so-called "Green Belt" around Moscow. An $8 billion dollar high speed road has been proposed to go through the forest to connect Moscow and Saint Petersburg. For this purpose, part of...

. This construction has raised many protests in Russia, 75% of the local community – about 208.000 citizens of Khimki

Khimki

Khimki is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated just northwest of Moscow, at the west bank of the Moscow Canal. Population: 207,125 ; 141,000 ; 106,000 ; 23,000 .-History:...

 – oppose the project.

Investors

The investors comprise:

• Institutional investors – 67.4 %
• Employees – 9.0 %
• Individual shareholders – 12.0 %
• Artémis – 3.8 %
• Qatari Diar – 5.7 %
• Treasury shares – 2.1 %

External links