Bilfinger Berger pinning high hopes on entry into the Indian market

Bilfinger Berger, one of the world’s largest engineering and services companies today underpinned its high hopes on the Indian market. The acquisition of Neo Structo Construction Ltd. and Spetech Plant Equipments Private Ltd. (“Neo Structo”) represents an initial milestone in the German company’s objective of strengthening its commitment in Asia. Bilfinger Berger has a financial scope of more than €1 billion for investment in the expansion of the services business. Growth markets in the Asia-Pacific and the Gulf region are a key focus in this strategy. Bilfinger Berger will be investing more than 100 million euro in India in the next couple of years.

Neo Structo, based in Surat, has an extensive customer base in Indian industry. As part of the Bilfinger Berger Group, it gains greater access to the company’s global customers which operate production facilities of their own in India. Neo Structo will also be increasingly integrated into these customers’ international projects outside India. Similarly, Bilfinger Berger is an ideal partner for large Indian companies wishing to expand internationally or already operating international facilities.

Roland Koch, Chairman of the Executive Board of Bilfinger Berger SE, outlined the strategic goals of the company as follows: “We intend to generate most of the planned growth through acquisitions. Neo Structo marks a milestone in this strategy and I am proud that we now have a foothold in the growth market of India. This gives us a solid foundation for further growth in the Asian market.”

Bilfinger Berger has set ambitious strategic development goals over the coming years. These include a major growth phase which the company intends to realize by acquisitions to a greater extent, focusing on highly profitable companies in selected growing markets. To drive this acquisition strategy, Bilfinger Berger has announced its intention to invest about €1 billion over the next two years worldwide.

Bilfinger Berger views India as a market with immense growth potential driven especially by the petrochemical and chemical industries. With the acquisition earlier this year of engineering specialist Tebodin, which has been operating in Chennai since 2007, Bilfinger Berger already has a further foothold in India. On the basis of Tebodin\\\'s existing client relationships, further expansion in the Asia-Pacific region is planned.

K.B. Viswanathan, Managing Director of Neo Structo, sees integration within the Bilfinger Berger Group as the ideal means of continuing his company’s success story: “Neo Structo has been growing successfully over three decades and is an acknowledged and highly regarded partner to Indian industry. We have now reached a point at which we want to lay the foundations for the targeted further development of our company. In this connection, we will benefit from our membership in Bilfinger Berger. With our expertise paired with the knowledge and experience of this internationally active company, we are well-positioned to achieve this objective.”

Dr. Rudolf K. Jürcke, Chief Operating Officer of the Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services subgroup, stresses the company’s opportunities in the promising markets of the Indian subcontinent. “Neo Structo is a superb fit for Bilfinger Berger’s portfolio in terms of the services which it provides and the sectors which it addresses. We are convinced that we will be able to make a sustained contribution to the continued successful development of Indian industry both in project business and through long-term service contracts. This offers outstanding prospects for the future for both Neo Structo and Bilfinger Berger”.<br />