Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Infrastructure |
Founded | 1848 |
Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Key people | Will Samuel (Chairman) Olivier Brousse, (CEO) |
Revenue | £25 million (2020) [1] |
£−53 million (2020) [1] | |
£−66 million (2020) [1] | |
Owner | KKR |
Website | www |
John Laing Group plc is a British investor, developer and operator of privately financed, public sector infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, hospitals and schools through public-private partnership (PPP) and private finance initiative (PFI) arrangements. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until the court approved the acquisition of the company by KKR in September 2021.
The business can trace its roots back to 1848 when James Laing (born in 1816), along with his wife Ann Graham, and some employees whom they had hired, built a house on a plot of land that they had bought for £30 in Cumberland. The £150 proceeds from the first house financed the building of the next two houses on the same plot of land, one of which (Caldew House in Sebergham) [2] was kept by the Laing family to live in. The family and the business later moved near Carlisle. [3]
When James Laing died in 1882, his son, John Laing (born in 1842) took over the running of the company. John began to undertake larger contracts but confined the business to the Carlisle area. [3] John's son, John William Laing, (born in 1879) was working for the business before he was 20 years old, and so it became John Laing and Son. By 1910, John William Laing was running the business. More employees were recruited and larger projects were undertaken, including factory construction. [3] In 1920, the firm became a limited company, and two years later moved its headquarters from Carlisle to a 13 acres (5.3 ha) site at Mill Hill in north-west London. [3] During the Second World War, the company was one of the contractors engaged in building the Mulberry harbour units. [4] William Kirby Laing and John Maurice Laing, the fifth generation of the founding family, joined the company in 1950. [3] John Laing & Sons (Holdings) Ltd was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in January 1953. [5] The family and its trusts and charities held the majority of the shares. John William Laing became the chairman, and his sons became joint managing directors. By this time, the number of employees was around 10,000, and every site had a quality supervisor. John William Laing retired in 1957. The company acquired Holloway Brothers in 1964. [6]
Under William Kirby Laing and John Maurice Laing, the company continued to expand, winning contracts for power stations and diversifying into road construction while continuing to build houses. In 1985, Martin Laing, of the sixth generation of the founding family, became chairman. [7] Martin Laing determined that the company should begin to diversify. Home construction in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Spain, and California was now one of the major sources of the company's growth. As the company celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1998, it faced falling profits caused by cost overruns on the Millennium project and continuing problems within its construction division, related to competition and overcapacity. [8] In 1999, John Laing plc purchased a controlling interest in the Chiltern Railway franchise [9] and by 2002 had structured itself into two main divisions, namely Homes and Investments. It underwent yet another change when Sir Martin Laing retired in early 2002. Bill Forrester took over as executive chairman. [10]
The business expanded rapidly in the late 1990s, such that for the year ended 31 December 2001 its turnover was in excess of £1 billion. Following significant losses on certain construction contracts (including the Cardiff Millennium Stadium, the National Physical Laboratory, a disastrous PFI scheme in Teddington, west London, and No 1 Poultry in the City of London) [11] the company cut 800 jobs [12] and in 2001 disposed of its construction division to O'Rourke for £1. [13] It focused instead on its PPP / PFI activities. [14] Laing's property developments divisions were sold to Kier Group, [15] and its house building arm was sold to George Wimpey in 2002. [16] In 2003, its affordable housing division was sold in a management buy-out. [17]
In December 2006, John Laing plc was acquired by the private equity arm of Henderson Group. [18] The Laing Rail division – operators of Chiltern Railways and London Overground (with MTR Corporation), and holders of a stake in the open-access railway operator Wrexham & Shropshire – was put up for sale by in September 2007. [19] The division was purchased by German rail operator Deutsche Bahn in January 2008. [20]
In June 2008, John Laing formed a consortium with Hitachi and Barclays Private Equity called Agility Trains to bid for the contract to design, manufacture, and maintain a fleet of long-distance trains for the Intercity Express Programme. [21] The bid was successful and the contract was awarded to the consortium on the 12 February 2009. [21] The company established the John Laing Infrastructure Fund in 2010 in a £270 million public launch. [22] Then in October 2013, the company sold its facilities management business to Carillion. [23] Olivier Brousse was appointed as Chief Executive in March 2014. [24] The John Laing Environmental Fund was established in 2014 in a £174 million public launch. [25] In February 2015, the company became listed on the London Stock Exchange again. [26]
In September 2018, John Laing sold John Laing Infrastructure Fund Ltd. to Dalmore Capital and Equitix Investment Management. [27] In June 2019, John Laing sold the Investment Advisory Agreement between John Laing Capital Management Ltd. and John Laing Environmental Fund Ltd. to Foresight Group CI Ltd. [27]
On 19 May 2021, private-equity firm KKR said it has agreed to buy British infrastructure investor John Laing Group in a deal valued at about £2 billion ($2.84 billion). John Laing confirmed that it would unanimously recommend to shareholders to back the deal, whose terms it considered to be fair and reasonable. [28] The transaction was approved by the court in September 2021. [29]
Significant investments include:
John Laing’s former construction division, now absorbed into Laing O'Rourke, undertook a number of landmark projects including:
The subsidiary Laing Rail owned and operated Chiltern Railways and was joint operator of London Overground (with MTR Corporation) and Wrexham & Shropshire (with Renaissance Trains). In 2008 Laing Rail was sold to Deutsche Bahn. [20]
Along with Sir Robert McAlpine and George Wimpey, Laing is mentioned in the opening preamble to the 1960 Dominic Behan satirical Irish ballard McAlpine's Fusiliers. [67]
The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 by Prime Minister John Major, and expanded considerably by the Blair government, PFI is part of the wider programme of privatisation and financialisation, and presented as a means for increasing accountability and efficiency for public spending.
Marylebone station is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern terminus of the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham. An accompanying Underground station is on the Bakerloo line between Edgware Road and Baker Street in Transport for London's fare zone 1.
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains.
A public–private partnership is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions. Typically, it involves private capital financing government projects and services up-front, and then drawing revenues from taxpayers and/or users for profit over the course of the PPP contract. Public–private partnerships have been implemented in multiple countries and are primarily used for infrastructure projects. Although they are not necessary, PPPs have been employed for building, equipping, operating and maintaining schools, hospitals, transport systems, and water and sewerage systems.
George Wimpey was a British construction firm. Formed in 1880 and based in Hammersmith, it initially operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919, and he developed it into a construction and housebuilding firm. In July 2007, Wimpey merged with Taylor Woodrow to create Taylor Wimpey. Wimpey was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1934.
The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London (Marylebone) and Birmingham, the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a 112-mile (180 km) route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull.
Balfour Beatty plc is an international infrastructure group based in the United Kingdom with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, Balfour Beatty works across the UK, US and Hong Kong.
Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in Hooton, Cheshire. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Carillion in 2008.
Wrexham & Shropshire was an open access operator that provided passenger rail services in the United Kingdom. Services between Wrexham and London Marylebone operated from April 2008 until January 2011.
Laing O'Rourke is a multinational construction company headquartered in Dartford, England. It was founded in 1978 by Ray O'Rourke. It is the largest privately owned construction company in the United Kingdom.
Trainline is an international digital rail and coach technology platform with headquarters in London. It sells train tickets and railcards as well as providing free access to live train times and railway station information through its website and mobile app which is available on the iOS and Android platforms. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, it is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Tarmac Group Limited was a British building materials company headquartered in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. It produced road surfacing and heavy building materials including aggregates, concrete, cement and lime, as well as operating as a road construction and maintenance subcontractor.
Taylor Wimpey plc is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom.
Arriva UK Trains Limited is the company that oversees Arriva's train operating companies in the United Kingdom. It gained its first franchises in February 2000. These were later lost, though several others were gained. In January 2010, with the take-over of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn, Arriva UK Trains also took over the running of those formerly overseen by DB Regio UK Limited.
Taylor Woodrow Construction, branded as Taylor Woodrow, is a UK-based civil engineering contractor and one of four operating divisions of Vinci Construction UK. The business was launched in 2011, combining civil engineering operations from the former Taylor Woodrow group and from Vinci UK - formerly Norwest Holst.
London Overground Rail Operations Limited was a train operating company contracted to operate the London Overground train service on the National Rail network, under the franchise control of Transport for London. The company was a 50/50 joint venture between Arriva UK Trains and MTR Corporation.
Amey plc, previously known as Amey Ltd and Amey Roadstone Construction, is a United Kingdom-based infrastructure support service provider.
Sir John Martin Kirby Laing was a British businessman in the construction industry.
Adrian Shooter was a British transport executive.
East West Rail is a strategic aim to establish a new main line railway between East Anglia and South Wales. The immediate plan is to build a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keynes and Bedford, largely using the trackbed of the former Varsity Line. Thus it provides a route between any or all of the Great Western, Chiltern, West Coast, Midland, East Coast, West Anglia, Great Eastern and the Cotswold main lines, avoiding London. The new line will provide a route for potential new services between Southampton Central or Swansea and Ipswich or Norwich via Reading, Didcot and Ely, using existing onward lines. The government approved the western section in November 2011, with completion of this section expected by 2025.
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