VINCI - 2005 annual report

VINCI CONCESSIONS VINCI ENERGIES
VINCI MILESTONES
VINCI is heir to many hundreds of businesses whose names, since the 19 th century,
have been associated with the most ambitious construction projects in France
and throughout the world.
1891. Creation of Grands Travaux
de Marseille (GTM).
1899. Creation of Girolou by
Alexandre Giros and Louis Loucheur.
This company built electrical
generating stations and networks.
Its fi rst concession was the Lille-
Roubaix-Tourcoing tramway.
1908. Creation, as part of Girolou,
of Société Générale d’Entreprises (SGE).
1908-1918. SGE experienced
rapid growth until World War I
and participated in the war effort and
then in post-war reconstruction.
It became renowned for major
projects such as the building
of dams and power stations.
1918-1946. SGE developed its
activities mainly in electricity until
the sector was nationalised in 1946
at which time it redeployed into
building and civil engineering.
1966. Compagnie Générale
d’Électricité acquired a controlling
interest in SGE.
1970. SGE participated in
the formation of Cofi route, which
fi nanced, built and now operates
the A10 (Paris to Orleans) and A11
(Paris to Le Mans) motorways.
1984. Compagnie de Saint-Gobain
became SGE’s majority shareholder.
1988. Saint-Gobain sold its interest
in SGE to Compagnie Générale
des Eaux, which contributed its
construction and civil engineering
subsidiaries Campenon Bernard
and Freyssinet, as well as roadworks
company Viafrance.
The 1990s. Several acquisitions
gave SGE a European dimension.
1996. SGE was reorganised into
four core businesses: concessions,
energy, roads, and construction.
1997. Compagnie Générale des
Eaux reduced its interest in SGE to
51%. SGE sold its household waste
treatment and water distribution
activities to Compagnie Générale
des Eaux, and (in exchange) acquired
electrical engineering companies
GTIE and Santerne and construction
company CBC.
1999. The Group made a successful
friendly bid for Sogeparc, the leading
French car park operator.
2000. Vivendi disposed of its
holding in SGE, which changed
its name to VINCI. VINCI made a
friendly bid for GTM with a view
to a merger and Suez contributed its
majority shareholding. The merger
of the two groups formed the world’s
leading group in concessions,
construction and related services.
2002. VINCI entered the CAC 40
index of the 40 leading companies
listed on the Paris market and
acquired 17% of Autoroutes du Sud
de la France (ASF).
2003-2004. VINCI increased its
holding in ASF to 23%.
2005. The government selected
VINCI to acquire ASF in the motorway
company privatisation.