Civil construction group Georgiou set to be sold to European firm STRABAG for ‘low three-digit million euro’

WA’s biggest family-owned construction group, Georgiou, is set to be sold to a major European company, nearly a year after the death of founder and patriarch Spiro Georgiou. Georgiou said on Thursday that it was in advanced talks for the sale of the near 50-year-old business to Austria’s STRABAG, a listed $7 billion group which has partnered on the construction of infrastructure projects in WA in the past. While proposed terms were not disclosed, STRABAG told the Vienna Stock Exchange the purchase price would be “in the low three-digit million euro range”, implying a value of at least $150m. Georgiou is owned by Spiro’s wife of 63 years, Agnoula, and his children, including the company’s executive chairman John Georgiou. Chief executive Gary Georgiou, who is not related to the family, said the sale would give the WA company access to “increased financial backing ... (and) proven technical capability, experience and assets that extend beyond our current resources”. “This expansion of capability offers immense value and opportunity not only for Georgiou as a commercial entity, but also for our people and the Australian construction industry as a whole,” he said. John Georgiou, said the sale, which has to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board, had been agreed “as a family”. He said Spiro, who died in January, “was aware and supportive of the acquisition by STRABAG”, suggesting the two groups had been talking for sometime. “The founding shareholders, my father Spiro ... and my mother Agnoula, have always been passionate about Georgiou Group,” John said. “The company’s success, including the success of employees, is incredibly important to all of us.” Georgiou, which employs about 900 people, has come off a strong 2024 financial year, returning an improved net profit of $34.6m for the 12 months to June 30 on revenue of $1.3 billion. In its annual report, the group cited its growth in the WA, NSW and Queensland markets, its entry into the Northern Territory, and diversification into the defence, resources and renewable sectors as key factors in the successful year. It finished the year with $1.3b of work in hand and paid a doubled dividend of $20m to the family owners. STRABAG is one of Europe’s biggest construction companies, with 86,000 employees and annual turnover of €19b ($31b). It is capitalised at €4.5b. The company told its shareholders that Georgiou’s management team would remain with Georgiou following the acquisition. Supported by Agnoula, Spiro, who migrated to Australia from Greece at the age of 18, founded Georgiou as Direct Drainage in 1977 and expanded the businesses with the aid of takeovers and mergers into one of WA’s top 10 private businesses. On his death aged 88, he was described by the company as “a man whose life journey encapsulated resilience, family devotion, and entrepreneurial spirit”