Bilfinger strengthens portfolio with piping & mechanical specialists from De Bruin

The agreement was signed on the last day of February of this year and the acquisition of De Bruin Piping & Construction B.V. was completed. With this, Bilfinger significantly expands its presence and capacity in the field of piping & mechanical in the Netherlands, especially the port are of Rotterdam.

The process industry is undergoing a transformation and this required many different technical adjustments. Bilfinger customers need expertise and resources to achieve their sustainability goals. We can support them with our wide range of services via a single source and make their existing installations more efficient and sustainable. Piping & mechanical plays a role in this. With our Belgian company Bilfinger ROB, Bilfinger has long been a renowned player in this field, and we are now adding a Dutch piping & mechanical specialist.

Love and passion

Thierry Burki, CEO Belgium/Netherlands: ‘We have been looking for an expansion of our piping & mechanical discipline for some time. But we set an important condition: the company had to really fit our mentality. We just wanted to have a passionate club of people who have love for the profession of pipe fitting and welding.’ This attitude and passion is typical of De Bruin Piping & Construction, which was founded in 1981 and can therefore boast more than forty years of experience in the field of production and installation of ferrous and non-ferrous piping systems, installation of storage tanks, design and production of skids and detail engineering. ‘With this acquisition, we add a strong team of experienced experts to our company,’ said Burki.

Workshops

In addition, the company has two prefab workshops in Brielle, where components of installations can be prefabricated. De Bruin also has several workshops on site at clients. De Bruin supplies clients in both the petrochemical and non-chemical process industries and is VCA-P certified – a special safety standard for contractors and subcontractors working in the petrochemical sector.

Good new employer

Former owner Jan de Bruin is also pleased with the acquisition: ‘In recent years, due to the growth of the company, combined with the stricter rules from both the government and customers, it has become an increasing challenge to remain maximizing one hundred percent. This has made me seriously decide to think about the next step. However, I think the most important thing is that my employees get a good new employer. With Bilfinger it clicked immediately. That is why I became more and more confident that this is the best solution for everyone, and that in exchange for this transfer. At Bilfinger, the approximately sixty new employees will have good opportunities to grow.’ De Bruin Piping and Construction B.V. will become fully operational in the Bilfinger Group in the first twelve months.

Cross-pollination

‘It is our goal to become the market leader in piping & mechanical in Rotterdam as well,’ says Burki. ‘With this acquisition, we should be able to do that. De Bruin has a strong local presence and a good size with which we can handle large jobs in the Rotterdam region. And you really need that dynamic if you want to grow in piping & mechanical in this region. In addition, the arrival of more than eighty new colleagues means more growth, but also more cross-pollination between our people and locations. This is also important in view of the labor market problems and the recruitment of new welders and pipe fitters. We are very happy with it and we will work hard to make it a great success. This train is really going now!’