Ponticelli Frères is a French assembly, boilermaking, and

machining Machining is a manufacturing process where a desired shape or part is created using the controlled removal of material, most often metal, from a larger piece of raw material by cutting. Machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, which util ...

company founded in 1921 by three brothers from Italy: Céleste, Bonfils, and

Lazare Ponticelli Lazare Ponticelli (born Lazzaro Ponticelli; 24 December 1897, later mistranscribed as 7 December – 12 March 2008), Knight of Vittorio Veneto, was at 110, the last surviving officially recognized veteran of the First World War from France an ...

. Founded in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the headquarters remain in Paris ( 13th arrondissement) at . Its central manufacturing plant is located in

Émerainville Émerainville () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne département in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Demographics Inhabitants of Émerainville are called ''Émerainvillois'' in French. Education Primary school groups (combin ...

(

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

) on the Malnoue site. Ponticelli Freres focuses on providing industrial services to clients in the oil and gas, energy, chemistry, pharmaceutical, and steel sectors.

History

The company was founded on November 5, 1921, by three Italian brothers, who were veterans of the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The idea of the company started with all the brothers, post-war, working as masons at chimney cleaning and repair sites. The oldest brother, Céleste, had the idea to pool the brother's money together to help immigrate their family to France. Once in France, the company's first real job was the removal and replacement of a chimney in a famous clothing store, Belle Jardinière, without creating a mess in the storefront. They completed this job by working through the roof of the store efficiently, leading to a large payment for their work. The company acquired its first headquarters in 1930 at 69 Avenue d'Ivry in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Work continued on chimneys in large buildings and factories, leading to the company's specialization in lifting and assembly. Further expansion occurred into heavier equipment and across France, notably in oil refineries, such as Port Jérôme (currently operated by

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine () is a commune in the department of Seine-Maritime, northern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon, Auberville-la-Campagne, Touffreville- ...

), La Mède refinery ( Berre-L'Etang), and

Frontignan Frontignan (; ) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Frontignan is renowned for its AOC wine, the Muscat de Frontignan, a sweet wine made solely from the Muscat grape variety. Geography Frontignan is located in th ...

(bombed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

). The Second World War slowed business considerably, causing the company to enter a state of vegetation in order to survive the economic hardship. Post-war, recovery was slow until 1950, with the support of the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...

, when France's industrial sector was revitalized, particularly in the oil refining sector. Despite this, Céleste still struggled to replenish the company's account in order to be able to make bids on industrial projects. Under the management of Roger Large, an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

with experience from

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

, and Céleste's son-in-law, ''Ponticelli'' began working in the industrial piping business for oil refineries. During 1950, ''Ponticelli'' moved near

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

to help construct the BP oil refinery being built there (which closed in 2015) by fabrication, assembly, and lifting of piping systems. After that contract, ''Ponticelli'' continued in the direction of contracting work for oil refineries. This resulted in the establishment of local divisions, such as the one in

Fos-sur-Mer Fos-sur-Mer (, literally ''Fos on Sea''; Provençal: ''Fòs'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Geography Fos-sur-Mer is situated about north west of Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast, and to the w ...

, and the renewed trust of companies such as Shell,

Caltex Caltex is a petroleum brand name of Chevron Corporation used in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Southern Africa. Headquartered in Singapore, it is also the brand name of non-Chevron petroleum companies in some countries (such as ...

, and

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

. They also completed work on the Ambès Thermal Power Plant (demolished in 2012) for the

EDF EDF may refer to: Organisations * Eclaireurs de France, a French Scouting association * Électricité de France, a French energy company ** EDF Energy, their British subsidiary ** EDF Luminus, their Belgian subsidiary * Environmental Defense Fund, ...

and the disassembly of the

transporter bridge A transporter bridge, also known as a ferry bridge or aerial transfer bridge, is a type of movable bridge that carries a segment of roadway across a river. The gondola is slung from a tall span by wires or a metal frame. The design has been us ...

for the city of

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

in 1958. In 1967, René Ponticelli, son of Bonfils, took over control of the family company after having worked for ten years as a

construction engineer Construction engineering, also known as construction operations, is a professional subdiscipline of civil engineering that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and operations management of infrastructure such as roadways, tunnels, bri ...

. The company also began branching out internationally, starting with

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. In the early 1970s, during the first energy crisis, the French government began changing policy on energy independence, leading to the development of offshore oil rigs (in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, and

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea (French language, French: ''Golfe de Guinée''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Golfo de Guinea''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Golfo da Guiné'') is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez i ...

) to secure oil independence and the construction of

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

s, headed by the EDF. ''Ponticelli'' completed projects in both sectors during this time, leading the company to create more regional offices to help better serve projects. These regional offices also helped to serve completed projects, such as oil refineries, during times of maintenance operations or during major shutdowns (also referred to as turnarounds). Moving towards the 1990s, more projects became plant modernization projects rather than new constructions. From the 1990s onwards, the industrial sector in France had become mature, meaning most new projects being contracted out were related to routine maintenance, major projects (such as a new tower construction for oil refineries), and turnaround support. However, internationally, ''Ponticelli'' continued with new construction projects in countries such as Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. This also led to the creation of international divisions, such as ''Ponticelli Nigeria'' in 1997, ''Ponticelli Angola'' in 2005, and the completion of contract work for the Rosa Off-Shore Platform in 2006 in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Revenue

Operating in France and internationally, notably through subsidiaries in Angola, Gabon, and Nigeria, the company employs 6,000 workers worldwide, 3,500 of whom work in France. This results in an annual revenue of () (2023).

Revenue by market

* Upstream Oil & Gas: 53% * Downstream Oil & Gas: 24% * Power Generation: 15% * Other Industries: 8%

References

{{reflist

Sources

* French Wikipedia,

Ponticelli Frères Ponticelli Frères is a French Assembly line, assembly, boilermaking, and machining company founded in 1921 by three brothers from Italy: Céleste, Bonfils, and Lazare Ponticelli. Founded in Paris, the headquarters remain in Paris (13th arrondiss ...

Companies established in the 20th century French companies established in 1921 French companies established in 1956 Engineering companies of France Companies based in Paris Privately held companies of France Multinational companies headquartered in France