Hollandsche Beton Groep

Hollandsche Beton Groep nv (HBG) was a Netherlands-based construction group founded in 1902. It expanded internationally in the late 20th century, acquiring businesses in the United Kingdom, before being itself acquired by Netherlands competitor Royal BAM NBM to form the Royal BAM Group.

HBG logo used from 1970s to its acquisition by Royal BAM Group.

History

Hollandsche Beton Groep NV was founded in 1902^[1] as Hollandsche Beton Maatschappij NV (HBM). In 1960, its Indonesian business was nationalized and eventually became PT Hutama Karya (Persero). During the 1970s, HBG began expanding overseas, acquiring the UK-based civil engineering contracting firm Edmund Nuttall Ltd in 1978.^[2]

It then grew its UK building interests further by acquiring Kyle Stewart in 1989,^[3] Glasgow-based contractor GA Holdings (formerly Gilbert Ash) in 1992^[4] and Higgs and Hill in 1996.^[5] Initially, the three individual companies' names were retained with the HBG prefix,^[3] later becoming HBG Construction with effect from 1 January 1999.^[6]

In February 2002, the whole group was the subject of a takeover bid by Spain's Dragados Group^[7][8] that was cleared by European competition authorities in April 2002.^[9] However, the deal was short-lived - in June 2002, Dragados sold off HBG to Dutch group Royal BAM NBM to form the Koninklijke BAM Groep^[2] and pave the way for Dragados's merger with a domestic competitor, ACS.^[7] In 2008, HBG was rebranded as BAM; the UK civil engineering business became BAM Nuttall, while HBG Construction became BAM Construct UK.^[10]

References

1. "Hollandsche Beton Groep NV". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
2. . Archived from the original on 8 June 2012.
3. Carrillo, Patricia (2001). (PDF). University of Loughborough. S2CID 166864570. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
4. "HBG ACQUIRES GA HOLDINGS". Construction News. 16 July 1992. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
5. Sir Brian Hill searches for a trustworthy heir 2011-09-01 at the Wayback Machine Financial Times, 19 April 2007
6. "HBG Triple Move". Construction News. 17 December 1998. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
7. "Grupo Dragados SA History". Funding Universe. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
8. Johnson, Keith (18 February 2002). "Dragados's HBG Bid Looks Risky But May Offer Many Advantages". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
9. "Commission clears acquisition of HBG by Dragados in the provision of construction and dredging services (10 April 2002)". European Commission. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
10. Rogers, David (29 July 2008). "HBG rebrands as Bam". Construction News. Retrieved 6 July 2020.