Colas Group

Colas

The product name Colas was given in 1924, derived from the terms 'cold' and 'asphalt'.

Fed by local demand, SGE developed production facilities in France in the 1920s, and also exported the Colas product to French North African possessions, Poland, and Romania. By the end of the 1920s, demand was such that SGE sought the partnership of Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell, and the Société Routière Colas company was founded, with two Shell subsidiaries taking two thirds of the stock and SGE the remaining third. Despite its creation during the Great Depression, the company was successful. It developed new bitumen emulsion-derived products and diversified into a wide range of road construction services during the 1930s.

During the Second World War, the company, majority-owned by a Dutch firm, was treated as an enemy possession. After the war, the company recovered and became the leading road construction company in France. It expanded into French North Africa, creating full subsidiary operations in Algeria and Morocco by 1950. The Société Parisienne Raveau-Cartier acquired most of Shell's shares in the company in 1958.

In the decades following World War II, the company established a strong position in the French market through collaboration with the government transportation ministry. It continued to operate in former colonies in Africa and elsewhere, and began to expand via native subsidiaries in other European countries. It also expanded through acquisitions in France, Belgium (Arboroute), Canada, and established a U.S. presence in Vermont.

In the 1980s, still the market leader in France and North Africa, the company acquired Grands Travaux de l’Est, the starting point for expansion into countries surrounding the Indian Ocean as well as the diversification into its civil engineering activities. The Bouygues company became the main shareholder in the 1980s, with Colas under Shell/Bouygues jointly holding the Société d'Investissement de Travaux Publics (SITP). French road construction competitors Screg and Sacer were also part of the SITP structure. By the 1990s, the international subsidiaries had been bought back from Shell, and both Sacer (1993) and Screg (1997) became Colas subsidiaries. In 2000, the group acquired Seco Rail, followed by AMEC Spie Rail in May 2007. The Colas Rail division was formed in 2007.