Hochtief sees no integration with ACS -report
* Eyes Indian civil engineering company of similar sizeFRANKFURT, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Hochtief rejected
speculation that controlling shareholder ACS of Spain
would strengthen the integration of the German construction
group into its own operations, a newspaper reported.”The relationship is distinguished by the fact that Hochtief
is its own joint stock company, and ACS is very much aware of
this,” Hochtief Chief Executive Frank Stieler told German
business weekly WirtschaftsWoche.”Their interest is to make money with their stake in
Hochtief and not to interfere in some business that from a
distance they can only comprehend with difficulty.”Both companies have to succeed on their own, independent of
each other, he said, adding that synergies between the two arise
and are not planned systematically.”Since ACS only holds nearly 50 percent of Hochtief, each
company has to manage their own business. An integration
programme is neither possible nor intended — both do that which
they consider to be sensible,” Stieler said, adding that joint
projects are arranged at a local level and not through
headquarters.Unlike German rival Bilfinger Berger , which is
moving away from construction to focus on less-cyclical services
related to the industry, Hochtief aims to acquire building
companies, he said.”We will shortly buy a construction company based in the
west coast of Canada that has sales of considerably more than
100 million euros ($138.7 million). We are also looking to by a
civil engineering company in India, likewise an acquisition
above 100 million,” he said.”We are in the position to generate very respectable returns
in construction.”Stieler said Hochtief’s domestic German construction
business was nearing a return on sales of 3 percent versus the
industry average of around 1.8 percent for larger German rivals.He took over in April from predecessor Herbert
Luetkestratkoetter, who had strictly opposed a hostile bid from
large shareholder ACS. ($1 =
0.721 Euros)
