Ausenco

History

Ausenco was founded in Brisbane, Australia, in 1991, by Zimi Meka, current CEO and Managing Director, and Bob Thorpe, current Board member. Four years later, in 1995, the second office opened in Perth, Australia.

In 2002, the first institutional shareholders invested in Ausenco and the former Queensland Premier, Wayne Goss, was appointed Chairman of the company. Ausenco established the Ascentis division in 2003 to deliver operations solutions to the minerals processing industry. In 2004, Ausenco opened an office in China, and then in 2005, opened offices in North America and South America.

The company listed on the Australian stock exchange on 15 June 2006.

In 2007, the Vancouver office opened, increasing the number of employees by 31% to 1,010 people globally. The Ausenco foundation was also launched in 2007 to offer support to the communities in which people from Ausenco live and work.

Ausenco began an expansion program in 2008 by acquiring several companies to enhance their service offering including Vector Engineering, Pipeline Systems Incorporated (PSI) and Sandwell. This increased employee numbers by 150%, and expanded service offerings to include pipeline systems, ports & marine, environment & sustainability, and transportation systems. The Ausenco Taggart joint venture was also formed in 2008 to offer design and delivery expertise for coal handling processing plants.

In 2009, Ausenco acquired 50% equity in the Kramer Group to form Kramer Ausenco, expanding the company’s presence and services into PNG and the South Pacific.

Ausenco further diversified their offering in 2012 by acquiring 100% of Reaction Consulting, a Canada-based specialist provider of engineering services in the SAGD bitumen and oil sands sectors, to expand its capability and services in process engineering for the oil and gas market. The Ausenco Rylson joint venture was also formed to expand offerings in asset optimisation and management services.

George Lloyd was appointed Chairman in 2013 which was the same year Ausenco acquired PROJEX Technologies Ltd located in Calgary, Alberta and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to expand capabilities in the oil sands market.

In mid-2015 Ausenco formed a Strategic Alliance with Spanish multinational construction company Duro Felguera S.A. to jointly pursue and deliver EPC projects globally.

In September 2016 Ausenco was privatised via a Scheme of Arrangement with RCF V.I. LP and key shareholders. Ausenco was subsequently de-listed from the Australian Securities Exchange.

Operations

Ausenco has worked on projects in over 90 countries around the world, and has around 1,400 employees as of 2016, across 26 offices in 16 countries.

The company is organised along regional lines comprising the geographical regions of APAC/Africa, North America and South America.

Major Projects

Major projects have included:

Awards

2002
Winner Australian Export Award – Services
Winner Engineering Excellence Award – Projects and Exports

2004
Winner Queensland Export Award – Services
Winner Australian Export Award – Services

2005
Winner Queensland Engineering Excellence Award – Resource Development (with Bateman Engineering)

2006
Winner Queensland Export Award – Services
Winner Australian Export Award – Services

2007
Export Award’s Hall of Fame

2010
Winner Vision Award - Illumination Engineering Society, BC

2011
Winner Australia Latin America Business Excellence award
Winner Jack Holt Newcrest Mining Trophy
Winner BC Workplace Diversity Award
Winner Royal Architectural Institute of Canada award

2012
Winner Annual Australian Mining Prospect Award - Contractor of the Year
Winner Construsoft/Tekla BIM award
Winner Queensland's Export Award – Minerals and Energy

2013
Winner Queensland Professional Engineer of the Year – Zimi Meka
Silver medal award winner in Canada’s Safest Employers awards
Winner Australian Business Award - Recommended Employer
Winner Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards - Engineering a Better Canada Award
Award of Excellence Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards - Special Projects
Award of Merit (ACEC-BC) British Columbia Awards – Natural Resource, Energy and Industry
Lieutenant Governor’s Award of Excellence (ACEC-BC) British Columbia Awards – Soft Engineering

2014
Finalist PACE Zenith Awards – Mining and Minerals Processing
Finalist QLD Mining Contractor Awards – Cost Saving Initiative
Winner QLD Mining Contractor Awards – Cost Saving Initiative
Award of Merit (ACEC-BC) British Columbia Awards – Municipal and Civil Infrastructure
Winner Bentley Be Inspired Awards – Innovation in Offshore Engineering

2015
Silver Recipient Canada’s Safest Employers Awards – Mining and Natural Resources
Finalist Best Continuous Improvement of a Workplace Health and Safety Management System in the National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA) Foundation National Safety Awards of Excellence