Construction World July 2017

PROJECTS & CONTRACTS

NAME CHANGE, BUT SOLID FOUNDATION at SA’s construction icon

There is a ‘new’ name on South Africa’s construction landscape, as Concor Infrastructure raises its flag over the edifice of Murray & Rob- erts Infrastructure, following the recent acquisition of the Murray & Roberts Infrastructure and Building Platform by a consortium led by the Southern Palace Group.

The name, of course, is not new at all, with the history of the Concor business dating back nearly 70 years to its establishment in 1948. The remarkable success of Concor – initially specialising in concrete construction and expanding into civil construction and building – was clearly evident from its growth; in its last year as a listed entity on the JSE over 10 years ago, its turnover was R1,6-billion. In 2006, Concor was acquired by Murray & Roberts, whose own heritage in the construction sector goes back 115 years. Now, the name Concor lives once more as a construction brand, and as the proud mantle for the heritage, skills and

experience that have continued to grow in the nurturing environment of Murray & Roberts Infrastructure over the past decade. Much to look forward to Concor Infrastructure managing director, Eric Wisse says there is much to look forward to as this new chapter opens for the business and its committed staff. “Our new ownership will give yet another boost to our past efforts in developing a strong and transformed business to serve South Africa and markets beyond our borders,” says Wisse. “We have a proven management team and a depth of skills and experience in our ranks that positions us well for growth.” Equity Already operating on a strong Level 2 BBBEE basis before the acquisition by Southern Palace, Concor Infrastructure has a solid scorecard position reflecting its historical commitment to employment equity and skills development as well as supplier and enterprise development. He says the involvement of the new shareholders is certainly going to create valuable leverage for the business to apply its expertise in ever-widening markets. Wisse says the company aims to confirm its position as the leading black owned Tier 1 infrastructure player in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa; it is already active in all nine provinces locally, and regularly performs contracts in Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. “One highly successful aspect of our operating model is to follow our established customers wherever they have work,” he says. “This approach means that we have been engaged in projects all over Africa; we still have registered companies in many African countries, and are ready to open more in any countries where we find work.” Concor Infrastructure is confident that it will play a growing role in infrastructure development throughout Africa, especially where South Africa-based development

Eric Wisse, managing director of Concor Infrastructure.

finance institutions like the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) are involved in the funding. “The need for and potential impact of new infrastructure in Africa is enormous,” says Wisse, “and we stand ready to commit our considerable resources and expertise to ensuring world class facilities anywhere in Africa where we have the opportunity.” Public infrastructure He says that Concor Infrastructure has been an active participant in the arena of public infrastructure, with its ‘base-load’ work in the transport sector – mainly focused on national and provincial road projects. Current projects underway include contracts from the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) and provincial public works departments in the North West and Eastern Cape provinces as well as the toll road concession companies. “Our flagship road project currently is on the N2 highway between Mtunzini and Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal, where we are building a new carriageway involving extensive road works and bridges,” says Wisse. “In the Eastern Cape, we are busy with a contract to widen and improve a section of the R72 between East London “We have continued to build our experience in this field, and today stand as the preferred civil contractor on a number of wind projects that form part of bid window 4 of the REIPP programme led by the Department of Energy.”

Construction on the Mlalazi River bridge on Concor Infrastructure's contract on the N2 highway in KwaZulu-Natal.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JULY 2017