VERTEX’s Bill McConnell, CEO, will speak as a guest lecturer at Construction Management program, sponsored by Columbia and Stanford University. The lecture, taking place on August 16th, 2016, is on the topic of Surety Bonds.
Bill McConnell's State of the Surety Industry in 2016
1. 2016
State of the Construction & Surety Industry
Presented by:
William J. McConnell, P.E., J.D., CEO
The Vertex Companies, Inc.
Engineering | Construction | Environmental | Claims | Technology
VERTEX
11. Construction is Outpacing the U.S.
Economy by a Wide Margin
U.S. Construction Industry Growth Rate Since 2011:
9%
U.S. GDP Growth Rate Since 2011:
3.5%
VERTEX
23. Market Share of the Top 10 Surety
Providers:
1980: 21%
1990: 42%
2004: 67%
2008: 68%
2014: 63%
VERTEX
24. Top Risks that Face Contract Surety Providers in
2016:
1.Quality Issues
2.Labor Shortages
3.Lack of Growth in Public Construction
4.Inflation
VERTEX
32. Results of Top 100
Construction Firms of 1964
33% failed
26% survived
41% were acquired
33. Status of the 41 Contractor
Acquisitions – 46% Survival Rate
9 failed post acquisition
19 survived and continue to offer construction
13 voluntarily dropped construction
34. Lorem
Ipsum
• Turner Construction Co. (#6) acquired by Hochtief in 1999.
• Daniel Construction Co. (#7) acquired by Fluor in 1977.
• J.W. Bateson Co. Inc. (#14) acquired by Centex in 1966; Balfour Beatty acquired Centex in 2007.
• C.F. Braun & Co. (#16) acquired by Santa Fe in 1981; Halliburton acquired C.F. Braun from Santa
Fe in 1989; KBR (including CF Braun) separated from Halliburton in 1989.
• Fischbach & Moore, Inc. (#18) acquired by Sullivan & McLaughlin in 2005.
• Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc. (#22) (now Hunt Construction Group) acquired by AECOM in 2014.
• Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Co. (#28) acquired by CB&I in 2001.
• Tishman Realty & Construction Co. (#29) acquired by AECOM in 2010.
• T.L. James & Co. Inc. (#35) acquired by Primoris in 2009.
• Fruin-Colnon Contracting Co. (Fru-Con) (#51) acquired by Bilfinger in 1978; in 2011, Balfour
Beatty acquired Fru-Con from Bilfinger.
• Frank J. Rooney Inc. (#73) acquired by Centex in 1978; in 2007, Balfour Beatty acquired Centex
Construction.
• Beacon Construction Co. of Mass., Inc. (#74) acquired by Skanska AB in 1996.
• Ragnar Benson, Inc. (#84) acquired by William Charles Ltd. in 2005.
13 Successful Acquisitions
35. Results of Top 100
Design Firms of 1964
41% failed
24% survived
35% were acquired
36. Acquirers of the 35 Design Firms
3 by Parsons (employee-owned)
12 by AECOM (public)
4 by Jacobs (public)
2 by CH2M (employee-owned)
2 by Dewberry (private)
14 by Other Large Design Firms
37. Market Consolidation - Design
(1995 – 2015)
2005 Top 10 Firms had 44.2% Market Share
1995 Top 10 Firms had 30.2% Market Share
2000 Top 10 Firms had 40.5% Market Share
2010 Top 10 Firms had 50.4% Market Share
2015 Top 10 Firms had 50.0% Market Share
38. Company Profile – AEC Firm
Dames & Moore
Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA
Current Rank: Acquired by URS in 1999
VERTEX
39. Company Profile – AEC Firm
IT Corporation
Headquarters: Torrance, CA
Current Rank: Declared bankruptcy in 2002
VERTEX
40. Company Profile
Morrison-Knudsen Co. Inc.
Founded: 1912
Acquired by: Washington Group
Current Rank: #7 (2015 / AECOM)
Landmark Project: Hoover Dam
VERTEX
41. Company Profile
J.A. Jones Construction Co.
Founded: 1894
Acquired by: Phillipp Holzmann A.G.
Current Rank: n/a
VERTEX
42. Subtle Strategic
Changes with
Market Shifts
Contractor Takeaways
Planned
Leadership
Transition
Seldom and
Selective M&A
Transactions;
Growth is
Primarily
Organic
VERTEX
43. Poor
Leadership
Transition – Lee
Iacocca Effect
Contractor Takeaways
Failure to
Adjust to
Market
Conditions and
Market Shifts
Excessive
Bureaucracy
Causes an End
to Most Large
Contractors –
Too Slow to
Move and Top
Heavy
VERTEX
44. Acquirer has
Long History of
Construction
Contractor Takeaways – M&A
Acquirer in
Similar Vertical
as Acquiree
Current Trend:
AEC Companies
Acquiring Large
Construction
Companies –
Success is TBD
VERTEX
46. Large Non-
Construction
Buyer is Often
Quick to Exit
Construction to
Focus on
Service
Business
Contractor Takeaways – M&A
Large Public
Buyer Tends to
Shed Most, if
Not All of the
At-Risk Work
Value of
Predictable
Service
Components
Far Exceed
Value of At-
Risk Vertical
(more buyers)
VERTEX
47. Design Firms
Must Diversify;
an Over-
Concentration of
Work in One
Sector Often
Leads to Failure,
Particularly
When the Sector
Compresses
Design Takeaways
Design Firms
Must Embrace
an Effective
M&A Strategy
to Continue
Growth Over
the Long-Term
Design Firms
Must Keep in
Front of
Technology
Improvements
that Improve
Efficiency
VERTEX
IBRAHIM
The list crosses out firms that no longer offer construction. In red are the 26 surviving firms as well as the 13 firms that were acquired and continue to offer construction.
BILL
IBRAHIM
IBRAHIM
IBRAHIM
IBRAHIM
IBRAHIM
BILL
Revenue: $37.2B
Owners:Bechtel Family & Internally Elected Employees
President:Brendan Bechtel (5th generation to lead company)
CEOBill Dudley
HQ:San Francisco, CA
2014 Rank:#1 (for the last 17 consecutive years) / #3 International Contractors
Warren Bechtel founded the company in 1898 to construct railroads with his team of mules.
Bechtel completed work on a series of railroad contracts during the early 1900s.
Bechtel ventured outside of railroad construction in 1919, when the company started to build roads, bridges, and highways throughout the western US.
Bechtel worked on its first power project (hydroelectric) and pipeline project in the 1920s.
In 1931, Bechtel joined six other companies for form a consortium to construct the Hoover Dam.
Warren died suddenly in Moscow in 1933; his son Stephen took over.
Bechtel built 540 vessels for the Federal government during WWII.
Bechtel’s first international project was in Venezuela in 1940.
In 1947 Bechtel began construction of the world’s largest pipeline which started in Saudi Arabia and ran across Jordan, Syria and ended in Lebanon. From this point forward, Bechtel managed a tremendous amount of work in the Middle East.
In 1949, Bechtel entered the nuclear power business when it built the Experimental Breeder Reactor in Idaho.
Bechtel constructed the first commercial nuclear power plant for Commonwealth Edison in Illinois in 1957.
Bechtel started work on the BART system in 1959.
In 1960, Stephen Bechtel Jr. took over for his father as president of the company.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Bechtel was involved in constructing 40 percent of the nuclear plants in the United States.
By the end of the 1970s, Bechtel moved from nuclear power construction to nuclear cleanup (Three Mile Island in ‘79). They also focused on mega transportation projects (DC Metro, etc.).
In the early ‘80s they handled the project management of construction projects related to the LA Summer Olympics (’84).
In ’87, Bechtel handled the project management of the undersea tunnel that links the UK and France.
During the recession of the ‘80s the company turned its focus to environmental cleanup and alternative energy projects.
In ’89 Riley Bechtel was named president of the company.
In ’91, the US retained Bechtel to extinguish the oil well fires in Kuwait.
In the 90s Bechtel built: the Hong Kong Airport, the Athens Metro System, an extension of the London Underground, facilities for the ’92 Barcelona Olympics, and facilities for the ’98 winter Olympics in Japan (Nagano).
Between 2000 and 2010, Bechtel completed work for the ’02 Olympics in Salt Lake and completed (with others) the $4.3 billion power project in China (petrochemical).
CONTROVERSY: In ’91, Bechtel JV-ed with Parsons Brinkerhoff to construct the Big Dig – the largest and most complex urban transportation project ever undertaken in the US. Due to massive overruns and construction issues (leaks and the collapse of the tunnel ceiling panel), Bechtel received bad press. Bechtel settled litigation with federal and state officials for $352M in ’08.
CONTROVERSY: Between ’01 and ’13, Bechtel worked on the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford site in Washington state (treatment for radioactive waste)(considered to be one of the most complex projects in the country at the time). Certain federal agencies criticized Bechtel for rising costs, nuclear safety and quality, and whistleblower allegations.
CONTROVERSY: In ’03, Bechtel won a $680 million contract to rebuilt infrastructure in Iraq. The contract led to the company being accused of both non-competitive bidding and war profiteering. Bechtel won a number of competitively bid contracts in Iraq thereafter.
CONTROVERSY: Following Hurricane Katrina in ’05, Bechtel was one of four companies hired by FEMA to build temporary housing. Certain federal officials and the media criticized Bechtel for the cost and quality of work.
Bechtel Divisions:
Infrastructure (transportation, fossil & renewable power, transmission, communications.
Mining & Metals (mining & production of materials)
Oil, Gas & Chemicals (liquefied natural gas, oil, pipeline, petrochemicals, and natural gas facilities)
Nuclear, Security, & Environmental (handles company’s government work and commercial nuclear businesses)
Bechtel-government links:
Riley P. Bechtel served on W. Bush’s Export Council
VP Jack Sheehan served on the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board
George Schultz, a Bechtel employee in the ‘70s, served as Secretary of State under Reagan.
Caspar Weinburger, Bechtel’s former general counsel, served as Reagan’s Secretary of Defense.
W. Kenneth Davis, Bechtel’s former VP, served as Reagan’s deputy secretary of Energy and head of the Atomic Energy Commission.
William Casey, a former Bechtel consultant, served as the chairman of the SEC under Nixon, head of the Export-Import bank under Ford, and director of the CIA under Reagan.
Ross Connelly, former CEO of Bechtel Energy Resources Corporation, was appointed by George Bush in June of 2001 to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Stew Burkhammer, a current Bechtel executive, is presently a member of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health.
TAKEAWAYS:
Bechtel adjusts in accordance with federal spending, on a domestic and international basis.
Bechtel established a stronghold in the Power sector in the ‘50s and has held on to it for the last 60 years.
Bechtel leadership has been very consistent – 5 generations of Bechtels have led the company and they have remained very low key while maintaining a network of political connections.
Bechtel has exploited international work like no other US contractor.