History
The business can trace its roots back to 1848 when James Laing (born in 1816), along with his wife Ann Graham, and some employees whom they had hired, built a house on a plot of land that they had bought for £30 in Cumberland. The £150 proceeds from the first house financed the building of the next two houses on the same plot of land, one of which (Caldew House in Sebergham)[1] was kept by the Laing family to live in. Both the family and the business later moved near Carlisle.[2]
When James Laing died in 1882, his son, John Laing (born in 1842) took over the running of the company. John began to undertake larger contracts, but opted to confine the business' activities to the Carlisle area.[2] John's son, John William Laing, (born in 1879) was working for the business before he was 20 years old, and so it became John Laing & Son. By 1910, John William Laing was running the business. More employees were recruited and larger projects were undertaken, including factory construction.[2] During 1920, the firm became a limited company, and two years later moved its headquarters to a 13 acre site at Mill Hill in north-west London.[2] During World War II, the company was one of the contractors involved in building the Mulberry harbour units.[3] Its activities during the conflict, as well in the immediate years of reconstruction following it, greatly bolstered the company's reputation.
During 1950, William Kirby Laing and John Maurice Laing, the fifth generation of the founding family, joined the company.[2] John Laing & Sons was listed for the first time on the London Stock Exchange in January 1953;[4] at the time, the Laing family along with its trusts and charities held the majority of the shares. John William Laing became the chairman while his sons became joint managing directors. By this time, the number of employees was around 10,000, and every site had a quality supervisor. John William Laing retired in 1957. During 1964, the company acquired the rival civil engineering business Holloway Brothers.[5]
Under William Kirby Laing and John Maurice Laing, the company continued to expand, winning contracts for power stations and diversifying into road construction while continuing to build houses. In 1985, Martin Laing, of the sixth generation of the founding family, became chairman.[6] Martin Laing determined that the company should begin to diversify. Home construction in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Spain, and California was now one of the major sources of the company's growth. During 1969, the company opted to invest in a toll road in Spain, marking its first infrastructure investment in 1969 in a toll road in Spain (the 65km Europistas project). Another milestone was attained in 1990 in the construction of the Second Severn Crossing, which was the first PPP to be conducted by John Laing.
During June 1995, amid the privatisation of British Rail, John Laing backed a management buyout that was the Chiltern Railways franchise.[7] In early 1999, a controlling interest in Chiltern Railways was purchased.[8][9]
During the late 1990s, the business expanded rapidly, to the extent that, for the year ended 31 December 2001, its turnover was in excess of £1 billion. However, as the company celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1998, it faced falling profits following significant losses on certain construction contracts (including the Cardiff Millennium Stadium, the National Physical Laboratory, a disastrous PFI scheme in Teddington, west London, and No 1 Poultry in the City of London),[10] and sustained problems within its construction division related to competition and overcapacity.[11] Accordingly, in 2001, the company cut 800 jobs,[12] and disposed of its construction division to O'Rourke for £1, far less than the roughly £100 million that had been anticipated.[10][13] Shortly thereafter, Sir Martin Laing stepped down as executive chairman in favour of Bill Forrester.
The business became orientated itself around its PPP / PFI activities;[14] by 2002, it had structured itself into two main divisions, namely Homes and Investments.[15] In April 2002, Laing's property developments divisions were sold to Kier Group,[16] and its house building arm was also sold to George Wimpey later that same year.[17] During 2003, its affordable housing division was sold via a management buy-out.[18]
In December 2006, John Laing plc was acquired by the private equity arm of Henderson Group.[19] During June 2007, a 50:50 joint venture between Laing Rail and MTR Corporation, London Overground Rail Operations, was awarded the London Overground concession.[20][21] Several months later, the Laing Rail division, which by then operated Chiltern Railways and (jointly) London Overground, as well as held a stake in Wrexham & Shropshire, was put up for sale;[22][23] the division was purchased by German rail operator Deutsche Bahn in January 2008.[24]
In June 2008, John Laing in a joint venture with Hitachi and Barclays Private Equity formed Agility Trains to bid for the contract to design, manufacture, and maintenance of a fleet of long-distance trains for the Intercity Express Programme.[26] The bid was successful, leading to a £4.5bn contract for new trains for both Greater Western and InterCity East Coast franchises being finalised in mid 2012.[27][28] The company established the John Laing Infrastructure Fund in 2010 in a £270 million public launch; this entity focuses on the day-to-day operations of completed infrastructure.[29] During October 2013, the company sold its facilities management business to Carillion.[30]
In March 2014, Olivier Brousse was appointed as Chief Executive; he avidly pursued further PPPs for infrastructure delivery and management services.[31] The John Laing Environmental Fund was established in 2014 in a £174 million public launch.[32] In February 2015, the company became listed on the London Stock Exchange again.[33]
During September 2018, John Laing sold John Laing Infrastructure Fund Ltd. to Dalmore Capital and Equitix Investment Management.[34] In June 2019, John Laing sold the Investment Advisory Agreement between John Laing Capital Management Ltd. and John Laing Environmental Fund Ltd. to Foresight Group CI Ltd.[34]
In May 2021, KKR announced that it has agreed terms to purchase John Laing Group in a deal valued at about £2 billion. John Laing confirmed that it would unanimously recommend that its shareholders back the deal and that it considered the terms of the acquisition to be fair and reasonable.[10][35] In September 2021 the transaction was completed.[36]
