Strabag

Origins

The business has its origins in two businesses:

• Baumeister Lerchbaumer-Isola-KG, which was founded as a craft workshop business known in 1835.^[2] The business was developed by Anton Lerchbaumer (1879–1954)^[3] and his son-in-law, Franz Isola (1901–1968). It evolved to become Baumeister Lerchbaumer-Isola-KG in 1929. In 1954 Anton Lerchbaumer senior died. Franz Isola became the sole manager of the largest private building company in Austria. In 1968 Franz Isola died and Anton Lerchbaumer junior (1913–1974) became manager of the company. The company became known as ILBAU AG in 1972.^[2]
• Strassenwalzenbetrieb was founded in 1895 and known as STRABAG from 1930.^[4]

Holocaust profiteering

Strabag was one of the main profiteers of the Nazi building projects during Second World War and before. It was a main contractor of Todt organisation and built concentration camps, the Westwall and Norway's Blood Road.^[5] The British Secret Service report concluded "[. . .] Enough large building firms offered their services to put the entire construction [of the Westwall, S.G.] on a voluntary basis. [. . .] Nor is there any basis later for assuming that firms in any large numbers became so reluctant to work for the OT as to make mass conscriptions of such concerns necessary. This willingness is due to the attractive profits obtainable from OT contracts."^[6]

Later history

These two businesses came under the common ownership of BIBAG Bauindustrie Beteiligungs Aktiengesellschaft (subsequently renamed STRABAG SE) – a company listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange – in 1998.^[4] In 1999, STRABAG acquired Strubag. In the same year, the company was delisted from the Vienna Stock exchange.^[4]

In 2000, the holding company Bauholding STRABAG (or STRABAG SE since 2006) started a strong brand strategy throughout Europe, unifying all under the core brand "STRABAG". In Austria ILBAU and STUAG merged into the new STRABAG AG. The following year, the holding company became the major shareholder in German company STRABAG AG (based in Cologne).^[4]

Subsequent acquisitions included Deutsche Asphalt GmbH^[7] in 2002, Walter Bau Group in 2005, a majority stake in Ed. Züblin in 2005, Adanti SpA, KIRCHNER Holding GmbH, F. Kirchhoff AG and Deutsche Telekom Immobilien und Service GmbH in 2008.^[4]

In 2007, STRABAG SE launched its initial public offering on the Vienna Stock exchange.^[4]

In December 2013 the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic confirmed that one of the companies of the STRABAG Group participated in bid rigging cartel of construction companies (together with companies of Skanska group and Mota-Engil group) in 2004. Illegal conduct was associated with the tender for the execution of works for the construction of the D1 highway from Mengusovce to Jánovce in Eastern Slovakia.^[8]

In May 2022, Thomas Bull, a director appointed by the third largest shareholder, Rasperia Trading, which is owned by Russian entrepreneur Oleg Deripaska, was removed from the board to ensure compliance with the EU sanctions against Deripaska.^[9]

In October 2024, Strabag sold its 6% shareholding in GySEV to the Government of Hungary.^[10][11]