Christiani & Nielsen

Christiani & Nielsen is a construction contractor with major operations in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Originally a Danish company, it is today a listed company majority owned by the GP Group.

The company provides a comprehensive range of construction services, including the design and construction of a variety of buildings and civil engineering works, steel structures with a full range of electrical and mechanical engineering services.

Early years

Christiani & Nielsen was established by Rudolf Christiani, a Danish civil engineer, and Aage Nielsen, a captain in the Royal Danish Navy, in Copenhagen in 1904 to build bridges, marine works, and other reinforced concrete structures.^[1] It soon established a branch in Hamburg, and after World War I, extended its operations to the United Kingdom, South America, Australia, and Africa. In 1965 the company built the Kish Lighthouse in Dublin Bay.^[2]

Thailand operations

Christiani & Nielsen (Siam) Ltd. was established on 28 February 1930.^[1] Over the years, the company executed a number of projects, including

• Democracy Monument
• Klong Toey Port
• The Krungthep, Krungthon, and Nonathburi bridges spanning Bangkok's Chao Phraya River
• Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium
• The Sukhothai Hotel in Bangkok
• The 13th Asian Games Sports Stadium
• All Season Place office complex
• SCG 100 Years New Office building, certified as LEED Platinum Class
• The Prince Mahidol Acoustic Hall

The Thai company was the first construction company to be listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 1991. In December 1992 it completed a reverse takeover of its publicly listed Danish parent company, the first such transaction in Thai business history.

It later expanded into Malaysia, Vietnam, and China, along with investment in engineering and property related businesses. As a result of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the company needed to undertake extensive restructuring by disposing of foreign subsidiaries and other investments, and thereafter decided to focus on its core construction business in Thailand.

The past few years have seen radical changes in the shareholding structure of the company. To comply with new regulations of the Bank of Thailand, in 2008, long standing major shareholder Siam Commercial Bank PCL sold its stake to the Crown Property Bureau, giving them a majority share in the company. Thereafter, in 2011, the Crown Property Bureau sold all its shares in the company to the GP Group which thereby became the new major shareholder of the Company.

New facilities

GP Group funded new facilities including new offices, a plant and steel fabrication yard, and a training center for staff and workers. For the new offices, the company purchased land at Bangna and built a seven-storey building which can accommodate up to 750 staff. In 2013, the old plant and steel fabrication yard moved to newly purchased premises at Sriracha. The equipment yard houses some 10,000 items of construction machinery, tools, scaffolding and form work. The steel fabrication yard has a production capacity of over 10,000 tones per year. A training centre was built on a 30 rai plot of land at Nimit Mai in Bangkok, including four training buildings, two accommodation buildings, and a canteen. It has the capacity to train up to 2,000 workers each year.

References