CIMIC Group Limited (formerly Leighton Holdings) is an Australian construction contractor. It is active in the telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources, and environmental services industries. It has operations in Australia, Southeast Asia, New Zealand and the Middle East. Formerly listed on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

, it is a subsidiary of

Hochtief Hochtief AG is a German construction company based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.Concessions.

History

Founded in 1949 by Stanley Leighton, Leighton Holdings was first listed on the Melbourne Stock Exchange in 1962. The company formed

Leighton Asia Leighton Asia is an Asia-Pacific construction contractor, a part of the CIMIC Group, an Australian project development and contracting group. Leighton Asia is currently headquartered in Hong Kong, and has been operating in the continent for mor ...

, based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta ...

, in 1975. In July 1983 Leighton Holdings, purchased Thiess Contractors, with its major shareholder,

Hochtief Hochtief AG is a German construction company based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.Smorgon Steel Smorgon Steel was an Australian steel manufacturing company. It was the last remaining part of Smorgon Consolidated Industries, founded in 1958 by Victor Smorgon, member of the Smorgon family. In 1997, Smorgon purchased structural materials Wel ...

. In 2000, Leighton Holdings bought a 70% stake in John Holland; this was increased to 99% in 2004 and 100% in December 2007. Hochtief became a majority shareholder of Leighton Holdings in February 2001. In October 2013

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...

alleged that Leighton Holdings had made corrupt payments to Hussain al-Shahristani, Deputy

Prime Minister of Iraq The prime minister of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, a ...

, to secure an oil pipeline contract in Iraq and other contracts. Basil Al Jarah, the Iraq country manager for Unaoil, a Monaco-based company allegedly acting for Leighton Holdings, subsequently pleaded guilty to corruption. By March 2014, Spanish company

ACS Group ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. () is a Spanish company dedicated to civil and engineering construction, all types services and telecommunications. It is one of the leading construction companies in the world, with projects ...

, through its acquisition of a majority shareholding in Hochtief, was the majority owner of Leighton Holdings. In June 2014, Verdes also became chairman of Leighton's executive board. In December 2014, Leighton Holdings sold John Holland to

China Communications Construction China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC) is a majority state-owned, publicly traded, multinational engineering and construction company primarily engaged in the design, construction and operation of infrastructure assets, including ...

for $1.15 billion. In April 2015, in the wake of the earlier corruption allegations against Leighton Holdings, ACS changed Leighton’s name to CIMIC Group (abbreviated from Construction, Infrastructure, Mining and Concessions). In March 2016, CIMIC purchased mining company Sedgman for A$256 million. In December 2016, CIMIC purchased engineering company

UGL Limited UGL, formerly known as United Group, is an engineering company. The company provides construction, maintenance, and asset management services to the rail, resources, and infrastructure sectors, and corporate real estate, facilities management, a ...

for A$524 million. In November 2021, the Ventia services division was spun off with CIMIC retaining a 33% shareholding. In March 2022, CIMIC was accused of arranging its affairs through the sale of its Middle Eastern business interests to avoid paying workers, subcontractors and suppliers in the region. Fatima Almass Al-Hamad, a judicial guard in Qatar, who was appointed by the court as an administrator of the Qatar business, Leighton Contractors Qatar, described the situation as "a humanitarian disaster". In April 2022, Hochtief increased its shareholding and commenced action to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares. In May 2022, CIMIC was delisted from the

Structure

CIMIC Group includes the following businesses: *CPB Contractors (construction) *

(construction) *Broad (construction) * Thiess (mining) *Sedgman (mining) *

(services) **

UGL Rail UGL Rail is an Australian rail company specialising in building, maintaining and refurbishing diesel locomotives, diesel and electric multiple units and freight wagons. It is a subsidiary of UGL Limited and is based in Melbourne, with a staff of ...

*Pacific Partnerships (public private partnerships) *EIC Activities (consultancy)

Major projects

Major projects undertaken by Leighton Contractors (renamed CPB Contractors in January 2016) include: * Yarra Glen Road, Canberra, completed in 1967 *

Ross River Dam The Ross River Dam is a rock and earthfill-filled embankment dam across the Ross River, located between Kelso and Mount Stuart in the City of Townsville in northern Queensland, Australia. Built initially for flood control, Lake Ross, the i ...

, Queensland, completed in 1971 *

Australian Astronomical Observatory The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO), formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory, was an optical and near-infrared astronomy observatory with its headquarters in North Ryde in suburban Sydney, Australia. Originally funded jointly by the ...

, Sydney, completed in 1971 * Tallowa Dam, New South Wales, completed in 1976 *

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports ven ...

, completed in 1977 * Bowen Bridge, Tasmania, completed in 1984 *

Burdekin Dam The Burdekin Dam, officially the Burdekin Falls Dam, is a concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled spillway across the Burdekin River, located south west of Ayr, and Home Hill in North Queensland, Australia. Built for the purpose of irrigat ...

, Queensland, completed in 1987 *

Brisbane Airport Brisbane Airport is the primary international airport serving Brisbane and South East Queensland. The airport services 31 airlines flying to 50 domestic and 29 international destinations, in total amounting to more than 22.7 million passeng ...

, completed in 1988 * Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, completed in 1988 *Newman to Port Hedland section of the

Great Northern Highway Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its northernmost port, Wyndham. With a length of almost , it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the ...

, completed in 1990 *

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Centre, Ultimo, completed in 1991 *

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) is a convention centre in Brisbane, Australia. It is located in South Brisbane and occupies most of the block formed by Grey Street, Melbourne Street, Merivale Street, and Glenelg Street. The centr ...

, completed in 1995 *

Star City Casino The Star Sydney (formerly Star City Casino and prior to that, Sydney Harbour Casino) in Pyrmont, Sydney, is the second largest casino in Australia after Melbourne's Crown Casino. Overlooking Darling Harbour, The Star, owned by Star Entertain ...

, Sydney, completed in 1997 *

North Lantau Highway North Lantau Highway is an expressway forming part of Hong Kong's Route 8, linking Hong Kong International Airport and Lantau Island with the rest of the territory. The road has three lanes in each direction for its entire length with ful ...

, Hong Kong, completed in 1997 *

Olympic Park railway station, Sydney Olympic Park railway station is located on the Olympic Park line, serving the Sydney suburb of Sydney Olympic Park. It is served by Sydney Trains T7 Olympic Park Line services. History Olympic Park station is now the only station functioning ...

, completed in 1998 *

Eastern Distributor The Eastern Distributor is a motorway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Part of the M1, the motorway links the Sydney central business district with Sydney Airport. The centre-piece is a tunnel running from Woolloomooloo to Surry Hills ...

, Sydney, completed in 1999 * Second Narrows Road Bridge, Perth, completed in 2001 *

Westlink M7 The Westlink M7 or M7 Motorway, formerly Western Sydney Orbital, is a tolled urban motorway in Sydney and is a part of the Sydney Orbital Network. Owned by the NorthWestern Roads (NWR) Group, it connects three motorways: M5 South-West Motor ...

, Sydney, completed in 2005 *

Cross City Tunnel The Cross City Tunnel is a twin- road tunnel tollway located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The tunnel links Darling Harbour on the western fringe of the central business district to Rushcutters Bay in the Eastern Suburbs. Each of t ...

, Sydney, completed in 2005 *

Westpac Place Westpac Place is a commercial skyscraper located in the north-western corridor of the Sydney central business district, Australia. The building is the bank's Australian headquarters. The building was built for the Westpac Office Trust, being in ...

, Sydney, completed in 2006 *

Mandurah railway line The Mandurah line is a commuter railway and service on the Transperth network in Western Australia that runs from Perth south to the state's second largest city Mandurah. The service is operated by Transperth Train Operations, a division of the ...

, Western Australia, completed in 2007 *

North-West T-way The North-West T-way is a continuous series of bus-only lanes and bus roadways between Parramatta, Blacktown and Rouse Hill in Western Sydney. Opened in stages between March and November 2007, the T-way was the second bus rapid transit route to ...

, Sydney, completed in 2007 * Eagle's Nest Tunnel and Sha Tin Heights Tunnel, Hong Kong, completed in 2008 *Buranda to Coorparoo sections of the Eastern Busway, Queensland, completed in 2009 *

Forrest Highway Forrest Highway is a highway in Western Australia's Peel and South West regions, extending Perth's Kwinana Freeway from east of Mandurah down to Bunbury. Old Coast Road was the original Mandurah–Bunbury route, dating back to the 1840s. ...

, Western Australia, competed in 2009 *

Clem Jones Tunnel The M7 Clem Jones Tunnel (CLEM7), known during its development as the North-South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT), is a A$3.2 billion motorway grade toll road under the Brisbane River, between Woolloongabba and Bowen Hills in Brisbane, Queensland. ...

, Brisbane, completed in 2010 * Gateway Bridge Duplication, Brisbane, completed in 2011 * ABC Brisbane Centre, completed in 2012 *Deer Park West to West Werribee Junction,

Regional Rail Link The Regional Rail Link (RRL) was a project to build a 47.5 kilometre length of railway through the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, the main aim of which was to separate regional V/Line Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong services from the e ...

, Melbourne, completed in 2015 *

South Island line The South Island line, identified by light green on the MTR route map, is a rapid transit line of Hong Kong's MTR metro system. This line connects the HK business district from Admiralty station to the Southern District of Hong Kong Island ...

, Hong Kong, completed in 2016 *Redevelopment of the

Royal Adelaide Hospital The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), colloquially known by its initials or pronounced as "the Rah", is South Australia's largest hospital, owned by the state government as part of Australia's public health care system. The RAH provides tertiary hea ...

, completed in 2017 *

Northern Beaches Hospital The Northern Beaches Hospital is a hospital in Frenchs Forest, located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History In May 2013 the State Government announced the Northern Beaches Hospital would be built in ...

, Sydney, completed in 2018 * M4 East, Sydney, completed in 2019 * Canberra Metro, completed in 2019 *

Sydney Metro Northwest Sydney Metro Northwest was a rapid transit project involving the construction of a rail line through the north-western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The line included the conversion of the existing Epping to Chatswood Rail ...

, Sydney, completed in 2019 *

West Gate Tunnel The West Gate Tunnel, originally known as the Western Distributor, is a four kilometre toll road currently under construction in Melbourne, Australia, to link the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville with the Port of Melbourne and CityLink at Do ...

, Melbourne, due to be completed in 2022 *

Sydney Metro City & Southwest Sydney Metro City & Southwest is a rapid transit project currently under-construction in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The project will extend the Metro North West Line from on the North Shore, to in the city's south-west via the Syd ...

, Sydney, due to be completed in 2021 *

Sunbury railway line The Sunbury railway line is a suburban electric railway in Melbourne, Australia. It has 15 stations, in Myki ticketing Zones 1 and 2. It is the electrified section of the Bendigo railway within metropolitan Melbourne. Prior to the line exten ...

upgrade, Melbourne, due to be completed in 2023 *

Parramatta Light Rail The Parramatta Light Rail (often unofficially referred to as the Western Sydney Light Rail) is a project for a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which is under construction and due to start passenger services in 2024. The ...

, Sydney, due to be completed in 2023

References

{{reflist

External links

CIMIC official website
Australian companies established in 1949 Companies based in Sydney Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Construction and civil engineering companies of Australia Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1949 Holding companies of Australia Holding companies established in 1949 Mining services companies of Australia 1960s initial public offerings