Bouygues

Bouygues S.A. is a French engineering group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip in the CAC 40 stock market index. The company was founded in 1952 by Francis Bouygues and has been led by his son Martin Bouygues since 1989. Martin's older brother, Olivier Bouygues, is a board member.
The group specialises in construction (Colas Group and Bouygues Construction), real estate development (Bouygues Immobilier), media (TF1 Group), and telecommunications (Bouygues Telecom).
History
The company was founded by Francis Bouygues in 1952. In 1970 Bouygues became listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. In 1985 and 1986, Bouygues acquired road construction groups Screg, Sacer, and Colas; later reorganised as Colas Group. In 1987 the company started operating the television channel TF1 and in 1988 Bouygues moved into its new head office, the Challenger complex, in Saint-Quentin en Yvelines. In 1996 the company launched Bouygues Télécom and in 2006 the company acquired 23.26% of Alstom. In 2010, through its subsidiary Nerem Telecom, Bouygues also acquired HGT Telecom for $170 million from Henri Benezra and his brother Avi.
In 2014, consecutively to Alstom's cession of its Energy activities to General Electric, Bouygues granted a call option to the French government, allowing it to acquire a maximum of 20% of Alstom, currently owned by the group. In May 2018, the company purchased the Australian construction company A. W. Edwards.
In 2021, Bouygues acquired the technical services business, Equans from Engie in a transaction worth €7.1bn.
Business structure
The company carries out the following businesses:
Construction
Bouygues Construction (100% share): construction, public works, energy & services, with a presence in 80 countries worldwide
Colas Group (96.8% share): roadworks, construction, railways and maintenance
Bouygues Immobilier (100% share): residential, corporate, commercial and hotel real estate and urban development, property development
Telecoms - Media
Bouygues Télécom (90,5% share): mobile phone and fixed line operator
TF1 Group (43.7% share): audiovisual group; with TF1 and 9 other TV channels.
Transportation
Alstom (0.16% share): passenger transportation, signalling and locomotives
BINA Istra (30.15% total ownership): Croatian joint stock company founded in 1995 to facilitate construction and subsequent management of an Istrian Y motorway
Technical services
Equans
Financial data
Source : Bouygues''
Major construction projects
Bouygues has been involved in many major construction projects including
Europe
The Parc des Princes completed in 1972
The Tour First in 1974
The Musée d'Orsay completed in 1986
The Île de Ré bridge completed in 1988
The Grande Arche completed in 1989
The Channel Tunnel completed in 1994
The Bibliothèque nationale de France completed in 1995
The Pont de Normandie completed in 1995,
The Stade de France completed in 1998
The expansion of Barnet Hospital completed in 2002
The redevelopment of West Middlesex University Hospital completed in 2003
The Brent Emergency Care and Diagnostic Centre completed in 2006
The expansion of Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford completed in 2010
The expansion of North Middlesex University Hospital completed in 2010
Bouygues is also involved in HS2 lot C1, working as part of joint venture, due to complete in 2031.
Africa
The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco completed in 1992
The Henri Konan Bédié Bridge in Abidjan, Ivory Coast completed in 2014
North America
The company also built the Port of Miami Tunnel completed in 2014.
Construction of the Iqaluit Airport terminal in Nunavut, Canada, completed in 2017.
Asia
The Gypjak Mosque in Turkmenistan, completed in 2004.
The Singapore Sports Hub completed in 2014
LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension due to be completed in 2025
Head office
The Bouygues head office is located at 32 Avenue Hoche in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The American architect Kevin Roche worked on this building, as well as the previous head office location, the Challenger complex in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. This complex, situated in a tract in Guyancourt, is now occupied by Bouygues Construction, one of the group's subsidiaries.
Group and values
Social and environmental commitment
Since 2006, Bouygues has participated in the United Nations Global Compact. The group sponsors The Shift Project think tank, with several other companies such as EDF, BNP Paribas or Saint-Gobain, which promotes sustainable economic development.
Patronage
Bouygues focuses its patronage on education, social issues and medical research. Each subsidiary supports its own foundation:
The Francis Bouygues Foundation sponsors deserving high school students with a scholarship.
Terre Plurielle, Bouygues Construction's foundation, grants financial support to projects selected by employees. These projects concern access to health, education, and the social insertion of people facing major difficulties.
The Bouygues Immobilier Corporate Foundation created in 2009 aims at raising awareness about the need of sustainable construction and urban planning.
The Colas Foundation supports contemporary arts through the acquisition of paintings.
The TF1 Foundation helps young talents from underprivileged neighbourhoods to succeed in the broadcasting sector.
The Bouygues Telecom Foundation is committed to environmental protection, helping people in social or medical difficulty, and promoting the French language.
Controversies
Bid rigging
In September 2023 Bouygues Construction Expertises Nucléaires (BCEN) was fined €6.2 million after the French competition regulator found them guilty, along with five other companies, of bid rigging over tenders for work at the Marcoule nuclear site.
Bouygues (UK) Ltd. v Dahl-Jensen (UK) Ltd.
In this UK construction adjudication matter, the company's UK subsidiary had terminated the employment of its mechanical sub-contractor, Dahl-Jensen (UK). The adjudicator made a mistake in calculating outstanding payments due to Dahl-Jensen, which led to a Court of Appeal ruling in 2002 which stated that
Flamanville
Between 2009 and 2011, Bouygues S.A. was illegally employing workers from Poland and Romania exposing them to inhuman working conditions at the construction site of the Flamanville nuclear power plant in Normandy. The company was later condemned for their practices before the court in Cherbourg and was ordered to pay sanctions of between €25,000 and €29,950.
Cyberattack on Bouygues Construction SA
On 30 January 2020 a ransomware-type virus was detected on Bouygues Construction's computer network although operational activity on the construction sites was disrupted. The "Maze Ransomware Gang" claimed responsibility for the attack and posted a 1.2 GB file that allegedly contained data taken from Bouygues Construction.
Notes
References
Further reading
Chronicles of Turkmenistan – The Opposition Website (English)
Gundogar – For Democracy and Human Rights in Turkmenistan.
External links
Bouygues Telecom (fr)
Bouygues Construction (fr)
Colas (en)
Offizieller TF1 (en)
Conglomerate companies of France
Multinational companies headquartered in France
Companies based in Paris
Conglomerate companies established in 1952
Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1952
French business families
CAC 40
Companies listed on Euronext Paris
French companies established in 1952
Construction and civil engineering companies of France