Bundeskartellamt clears takeover of Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau AG by the ZECH Group

The Bundeskartellamt has today cleared the acquisition of Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau AG, Frankfurt am Main, (“Wayss & Freytag”) by ZECH Building SE, Erkrath, (“ZECH”), a member of the ZECH Group.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “The takeover of Wayss & Freytag by the ZECH Group does not raise any competition concerns. The ZECH Group is one of the largest construction companies in Germany, but it has so far not been active in Wayss & Freytag’s specific areas of expertise, namely civil engineering, tunnelling and special foundation engineering. In addition, there are still sufficient other construction companies available to customers, including public sector clients in particular.”

Wayss & Freytag builds constructions such as power plants, industrial plants, ship locks, tunnels or bridges. Special foundation engineering includes the construction of building foundations and construction pits as well as soil improvement works. The ZECH Group is active in three business areas, namely building, real estate and hotels. The group’s building segment primarily realises above-ground construction projects.

Züblin/Strabag is the market leader in civil engineering and tunnelling. Other large competitors are the construction companies Max Bögl and Implenia in civil engineering, PORR and Implenia in tunnelling and the companies Keller, Bauer and Implenia in special foundation engineering.

Wayss & Freytag’s construction services are procured primarily by public sector clients but, to a lesser extent, also by private sector clients. Construction services are usually procured in tender procedures so that whenever a new contract is to be awarded, a competitive situation is created in which the best offer will be chosen