It will acquire all the shares of Destia Oy, which currently belongs to the family-owned Ahlström Capital Group. The Destia Group operates in the road, rail and energy infrastructure sector and generated revenue totalling €564m (£484m) in 2020.
It is seen as an opportunity to strengthen Colas’ foothold in Northern Europe and to enter the Finnish market.
The acquisition is in line with Colas' strategy to pursue international growth in its targeted regions of Northern Europe, the United States and Germany. Colas sees the Northern European market as offering solid growth prospects with significant needs for construction and maintenance of transport infrastructures.
“We are very impressed by Destia’s skills and expertise, particularly in terms of digitalisation of construction sites and maintenance services in harsh weather conditions,” said Francis Grass, managing director of Colas EMEA. “We see the opportunity to further develop business lines such as rail and earth & rock services and Colas will bring onboard its expertise in complex projects management.”
Lasse Heinonen, president and CEO of Ahlström Capital, said: “Together with the management of Destia, we have developed the company to a leading infrastructure service provider in Finland in a competitive market. The company has strengthened its capabilities in many key areas including digitalization in maintenance business. With Colas as a new industrial owner, the company is in good hands for the next phase of its growth journey, in Connecting Northern Life.”
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2021 and is subject to the approval of the competition authorities.
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