Seymour Whyte

Vinci

File:Vinci logo.svg Logo of Vinci
Company type	Public (Société anonyme)
Industry	Concessions and construction
Founded	1899
Founder	Alexandre Giros, Louis Loucheur
Headquarters	Nanterre , France
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Construction, concessions, infrastructure management
Number of employees	279,426 (2023)
Website	www.vinci.com

Vinci (; officially presented as VINCI) is a French enterprise specializing in concessions and construction, originally established in 1899 under the name Société Générale d'Entreprises. Its main office is situated in Nanterre, close to Paris. Vinci is listed on Euronext Paris and forms part of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

History

The company was founded in 1899 by Alexandre Giros and Louis Loucheur as Société Générale d'Entreprises S.A. (SGE). From 1966 until 1981, it was controlled by Compagnie générale d'électricité (CGE), which later became Alcatel-Lucent, before Saint-Gobain acquired a majority share.

SGE grew through several acquisitions, including Sogea in 1986, Campenon Bernard in 1988, and the British civil engineering firm Norwest Holst, established in 1969, in 1991. In 1988, Compagnie générale des eaux—which was later renamed Vivendi—took over SGE. The company adopted the Vinci name in 2000.

In 2001, Vinci took over Groupe GTM, merging Dumez with GTM, and rebranded Norwest Holst as Vinci plc in 2002. The company continued expanding by acquiring Autoroutes du Sud de la France in 2006, Bachy-Soletanche—a leading geotechnical contractor—in 2007, and the UK branch of Taylor Woodrow Construction for £74 million in 2008.

Further growth included acquiring part of Haymills in 2009, French engineering firm Cegelec for €1.18 billion the same year, European aggregates operations from Tarmac for £250 million in 2010, and Meteor Parking also in 2010. During the early 2010s, Vinci secured significant contracts related to London's Crossrail project.

In 2012, Vinci purchased ANA Aeroportos de Portugal for €3.08 billion. The following year, it won a €440 million contract to construct an express-lane highway in Atlanta. Between 2014 and 2016, Vinci divested most of its shares in Vinci Park, which was subsequently rebranded as Indigo.

In partnership with Orix, Vinci secured a $18 billion contract spanning 45 years to operate Itami and Kansai International Airports in Japan in 2015. By 2017, Vinci had gained a 30-year concession to manage Salvador International Airport in Brazil and acquired Australian contractor Seymour Whyte along with Swedish companies Eitech and Infratek.

From 2017 to 2020, Vinci engaged in Britain's High Speed 2 project through a joint venture with Balfour Beatty and Systra. In May 2019, it acquired a controlling interest of 50.01% in Gatwick Airport, pledging £1.1 billion toward passenger facility enhancements by 2023.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected Vinci's activities during 2020; however, the company contributed to constructing specialized hospitals in the UK. In October of that year, Vinci proposed €5.2 billion to acquire the ACS Industrial division from the Spanish ACS Group; this transaction finalized in 2021 and resulted in a joint venture concentrating on renewable energy projects.

On April 7, 2021, Vinci secured a 30-year concession to operate seven airports across Brazil, among them Manaus-Brig. Eduardo Gomes International Airport. In October 2024, Vinci reached an agreement to acquire FM Conway.

Ownership

As of December 31, 2019, VINCI's ownership distribution was as follows: institutional investors outside France held 57.2%, institutional investors within France owned 17.1%, individual shareholders accounted for 6.8%, employees possessed 8.8%, Qatar Investment Authority held a stake of 5%, and treasury shares made up 8.3%.

Financial data

Financial Figures in Billion Euros

Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Sales	33,571	36,956	38,634	40,338	38,703	38,518	38,073	40,248	43,519	48,053	43,234	49,396	61,675	68,838
EBIT	3,434	3,660	3,651	3,767	4,243	3,715	4,118	4,607	4,997	5,734	2,459	4,723	6,824	8,357
Net result	1,776	1,904	1,917	1,962	2,486	2,046	2,505	2,747	2,983	3,260	1,015	2,597	4,259	4,702
Net debt	13,060	17,164	16,210	17,552	17,134	15,001	13,938	14,001	15,554	21,654	17,989	19,266	18,536	16,126
Staff	179,527	183,320	192,701	190,704	185,293	185,452	183,487	194,428	211,233	222,397	217,731	219,299	271,648	279,426

Source: VINCI

Competitors

Key Competitors of VINCI

VINCI Autoroutes Abertis Atlantia Eiffage Brisa Vinci Airports AENA ADP Fraport MAHB

valign=top| VINCI Energies Within France: Engie Energie Services Spie Eiffage Énergie Bouygues Energies & Services Internationally: Siemens Spie Bilfinger ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions Minimax Burkhalter Alpiq

valign=top| EUROVIA Domestic competitors: Colas Eiffage Infrastructures LafargeHolcim Heidelberg Cement Group Cemex Global competitors: Royal BAM Group Strabag Amey Kier Balfour Beatty Tarmac Conway Aggregate Industries Hanson Skanska Metrostav Cormac

valign=top| VINCI Construction French rivals: Bouygues Construction Eiffage Construction Fayat NGE Spie Batignolles Demathieu Bard Léon Grosse International rivals: Royal BAM Group Balfour Beatty Kier Laing O'Rourke Strabag Skanska Porr Budimex Metrostav Trevi Bauer Keller

Source: VINCI Annual report 2016

Turnover analysis

In the year 2013 the revenue breakdown was as follows: design and construction of projects (35.5%), primarily in building and civil engineering; energy and telecommunications infrastructure design and servicing (26.5%, under Vinci Energies); construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure (19.7%, Eurovia), which includes roads and railways; outsourced infrastructure management (16.3%, Vinci Concessions) mainly overseeing roads and airports; alongside other activities accounting for the remaining 2%. Geographically distributed as: France at 58.9%, other European countries at 25.4%, North America at 3.9%, Africa at 3.5%, with other regions making up the final 8.3%.

In the UK market during the year 2020 Vinci UK declared a turnover of £858.5 million accompanied by a pre-tax profit of £16.2 million. Nevertheless by the year 2024 Vinci Construction UK experienced consecutive annual losses: a pre-tax deficit of £51.4 million on revenues of £1.34 billion in the year ending in 2023 (compared to a £43.5 million loss on £1.24 billion turnover in the previous year).

At the start of the year 2024 VINCI announced a revenue rise of twelve percent reaching €69 billion—a peak not seen in twelve years—signifying robust expansion across its various business sectors.

Noteworthy undertakings

Vinci and its antecedent entities have been responsible for delivering a wide array of iconic projects, such as:

• Gariep Dam (1971)
• Tour Montparnasse (1972)
• Centre Georges Pompidou (1977)
• Basilica of Our Lady of Peace (1989)
• New visitor entrance at the Louvre (1989)
• Channel Tunnel (1994)
• Pont de Normandie (1995)
• Stade de France (1998)
• Rio–Antirrio bridge (2004)
• Whiston Hospital (2013)
• Atlantic Bridge, Panama (2019)

Controversies

Vinci is engaged in the construction of the initial 43 km segment of the Moscow-Saint Petersburg motorway, which traverses the ecologically significant Khimki Forest. This initiative faces opposition from approximately 75% of the local population—around 208,000 inhabitants of Khimki. The project has ignited demonstrations along with accusations concerning human rights violations, including detentions and assaults targeting journalists and activists.

The company also encountered resistance regarding its planned airport development at Notre-Dame-des-Landes near Nantes, intended to become France's third-largest airport encompassing 2,000 hectares of woodland and marshland with considerable social and environmental importance. Funded through a public-private partnership with profits directed to Vinci, this venture triggered protests in November 2012 opposing the displacement of local residents and farmers, attracting both national and international solidarity.

Subsidiaries of Vinci, namely Norwest Holst and Taylor Woodrow, were connected to the UK's Consulting Association, which was revealed in 2009 to have operated an unlawful blacklist within the construction sector. Vinci was one of eight companies that established the 2014 Construction Workers Compensation Scheme, an initiative criticized by the GMB union as a "public relations exercise" and labeled by the Scottish Affairs Committee as "an act of bad faith."

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Amid the conflict in Ukraine, Vinci SA has come under examination for continuing its business activities in Russia. Although new investments have been suspended, operations persist through its subsidiaries, prompting debates about the company's ethical obligations and strategic approach in this market.