Indiana construction biz acquired by Swedish firm

One of Indiana’s largest private companies has been acquired by a Swedish corporation.

Stockholm-based Skanska AB, the Nordic region’s biggest builder, purchased Industrial Contractors Inc. for $135 million, boosting its U.S. presence with its first acquisition in the United States in a decade. The acquisition was announced Thursday morning.

Industrial Contractors, based in Evansville, employs 2,400 people and operates in the commercial, industrial and energy markets in the Midwest. It has worked on dozens of big industrial projects in Indiana, primarily in southern Indiana.

The company ranked 33rd on IBJ’s latest list of the largest private companies in Indiana, with $338.6 million in 2010 revenue.

Industrial Contractors has been “consistently profitable,” Skanska said.

“This follows our strategy to increase our portfolio of services and expand the geographical presence of our civil operations,” Skanska CEO Johan Karlstrom said in prepared statement.

Skanska is seeking to bolster its U.S. presence by buying a construction firm in the Midwest or Texas, Mike McNally, head of Skanska USA, said Dec. 15 in an interview.

While the U.S. is Skanska’s largest market, accounting for about 27 percent of revenue, its last acquisition there was a Californian road builder some 10 years ago.
The transaction was signed and closed Wednesday.

Skanska does little infrastructure construction outside New York, Virginia and southern California, and had been seeking to broaden its nationwide workload beyond just managing building projects such as hospitals.

Industrial Contractors was founded by Charles Braun in 1964. Alan Braun, son of the founder and current chairman and CEO, will stay on as an adviser, Skanska said.

The company will be included as an operating unit within Skanska USA Civil under the name, Industrial Contractors Skanska.

Headquartered in New York, Skanska USA has about 7,400 employees and annual revenue of nearly $5 billion.