SNC-Lavalin Group

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.

Type	Public (: SNC)
Industry	Engineering and construction services
Founded	1911
Headquarters	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Key people	Lawrence Stevenson (Chairman) Neil Bruce (CEO)
Products	Engineering services, project management, construction, construction management, procurement and operations and maintenance
Revenue	C$ 9.587 billion (2015)
Net income	C$1343.5 million (2014)
Number of employees	50 000 (2017)
Website	www.snclavalin.com

Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., a Montreal-based company, provides EPC and EPCM services in a variety of industry sectors, including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure and clean power. In many cases, SNC-Lavalin combines these services with its financing and operations and maintenance capabilities to provide end-to-end project solutions. Being the largest engineering firm in Canada with offices in over 50 countries and operations in over 160 countries, SNC-Lavalin is constantly ranked among the top engineering design firms in the world.

Surveyer, Nenniger & Chenevert Consulting Engineers (SNC) was established by Swiss-born Arthur Surveyer in 1911 in Montréal. He had a tough beginning, and he was struggling financially. He partnered with many companies, but they came and left. However, his reputation continued to grow. Surveyer’s private practice at first specialized in hydraulics (rivers, hydropower projects and flood control), but soon branched out into the industrial sector (particularly pulp and paper, mining and metallurgy).

Surveyer formed a first 10-year partnership with Emil Nenniger and Georges Chênevert in 1937. A second partnership agreement was signed in 1946, and the firm’s name was changed to Surveyer, Nenniger and Chênevert. The name would eventually be abbreviated to SNC. As stated by SNC, in the 1960s Surveyer, Nenniger & Chênevert completed the Manic-5 dam on the Manicouagan River, which is the highest multiple-arch dam in the world. The completion of this project won the firm acclaim. Their first international contract was awarded in 1963, to design and build the 780 MW Idukki power station in Kerala State, India.

Lavalin (formerly Lamarre Valois International Limited) was formed in 1936 by engineers Jean-Paul Lalonde and Romeo Valois. Bernard Lamarre was named President and CEO in 1962, and led the company for the next 29 years. During that time Lavalin grew to become SNC’s main rival in Canada. Lavalin also branched out in other industries, such as cable television—Canada's The Weather Network and MétéoMédia were founded by Lavalin in 1988; Lavalin's shares would be sold to Pelmorex in 1993. In 1991, SNC merged with Lavalin to become SNC-Lavalin.

According to Ingram, to increase their reach, SNC-Lavalin partnered with Bombardier in the 1990s to build transportation projects in Malaysia and Turkey. To increase their profits, they bought a 27 percent share in Ontario's Highway 407 toll road for $175 million. In 2011, they sold part of their share of Highway 407 at a significant profit.