Formerly | Concrete Constructions |
---|---|
Company type | Privately held company |
Industry | Construction |
Founded | 21 April 1920 |
Founder | Allen Lewis |
Defunct | 2005 |
Fate | Bankruptcy |
Headquarters | , Australia |
Area served | Australia |
Revenue | $500 million (2005) |
Number of employees | 1,000 (2005) |
Parent | Walter Bau |
Website | www.walter.net.au |
Walter Construction Group Limited, known for most of its life as Concrete Constructions Pty Ltd, [1] [2] was one of Australia's oldest and fifth largest construction company [3] prior to its 2005 collapse. The company was founded on 21 April 1920 by Allen Lewis. [4] [5] It remained independent until 1999, when the company was bought by the German Walter Bau and rebranded as Walter Construction Group. [6]
Before its collapse, Walter Construction had two divisions: "Construction and Civil", and "Mining". [7] While the mining division was profitable and expanding, the construction division had been losing money since 2000. By the company's collapse, 18 of its 21 contracts were cashflow negative. [3] During this period the company heavily relied on its parent company for financial support, [8] however Walter Bau was also experiencing financial difficulties and both companies were placed into liquidation on 3 February 2005. [9] [10] KordaMentha was appointed the administrator, [11] and proceeded to liquidate the remaining assets of the company by 2018. [12] [13] [14] During their investigation, it was also revealed that Walter Construction had traded while insolvent. [15] [16]
Prior to the collapse, John Holland had a bid to acquire Walter Construction, however the deal fell through in 2002. [17]