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Parts of Olmero AG aquired

Thinkproject, Europe’s leading SaaS provider for construction and engineering projects, has acquired the collaboration business of Olmero AG, based in Glattbrugg (CH), from the Swedish Byggfakta Group under an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA).

Olmero AG was launched in 2000 as a spin-off of the ETH Zurich and has been a pioneer in the digitalisation of the construction industry in Switzerland. Today, the company is the market-leading provider of their tendering platform to support communication and project management for all those involved in the construction project.

Market leader for digitalisation of the construction industry expands presence in Switzerland:

  • The acquisition makes Switzerland the fourth largest market for Thinkproject
  • Foundation of a new Thinkproject Swiss GmbH with headquarters in Zurich (CH)
  • Sébastien Howald becomes Managing Director

The projects handled by Olmero have an annual volume of 10 billion Swiss francs. Through the acquisition of technology assets, the active customer base, as well as sales and support staff from Olmero, Switzerland has become the fourth largest market for Thinkproject. Sébastien Howald, previously a member of Olmero’s management board, will be named managing director of the Zurich-based Thinkproject Swiss GmbH. With this acquisition, Thinkproject continues to execute its ambitious expansion strategy, which is based on organic growth through its own SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions for the digitalisation of the construction industry as well as on strategic acquisitions. With over 450 employees and 18 offices in 11 countries Thinkproject is the market leader in Europe and Germany in Construction Intelligence.

“The acquisition of assets from Olmero AG is an important milestone in Thinkproject’s expansion strategy in Europe,” said Gareth Burton, CEO Thinkproject. “Olmero has been a distribution partner for our common data environment tpCDE in Switzerland since 2002 and has an impressive track record. Its customers include well-known asset owners, general contractors, contractors and building suppliers as well as the leading planning and architectural offices in Switzerland. With access to our complete Thinkproject solution portfolio for Construction Intelligence, the new Thinkproject Swiss GmbH will further advance the digitalisation of the Swiss construction industry and show our customers new exciting possibilities for digital transformation.”

Project “Digital Switzerland”

The digitisation of the construction industry plays an important role in the “Digital Switzerland” strategy adopted by the Federal Council in 2016. Particularly in BIM (Building Information Modeling), a collaborative work method that enables project stakeholders to manage and connect available project information throughout the project lifecycle in order to achieve greater transparency for all involved parties. In this field thinkproject’s Europe leading expertise now meets Olmero, who has established itself as a pioneer and trailblazer. The BIM method is to be introduced as a standard for real estate projects by 2021, and by 2025 for all infrastructure projects.

“Thanks to this new independent structure, thinkproject Swiss will be able to refocus on high value-added CDE solutions. We can thus offer a wider and more professional range of services to our current and future customers. In addition to this technological and structural strengthening, we will be able to collaborate with the internationally active thinkproject teams, which means more capacity to bring innovation to our strategic projects in Switzerland,” said Sébastien Howald, designated Managing Director of the new thinkproject Swiss GmbH. “This new opportunity is more in line with what I do well and what I like to do: designing strategies, implementing business models, making quick decisions in a small team and working in the field.”

With two dedicated sales and support teams for the German and French speaking part of Switzerland thinkproject Swiss GmbH will ensure the seamless transition for existing customers.

“The thinkproject collaboration platforms offer great technical flexibility which, thanks to the professional support and advice provided throughout the project, guarantees me total and complete satisfaction.” – Clément Hittier / BIM manager by BEG SA – General contractor

Fundamental changes in the world’s largest industry

The construction industry is the world’s largest industrial sector, accounting for 13 percent of global GDP. In terms of the degree of digitisation and an annual productivity growth rate of 1 percent, the industry is lagging behind in one of the bottom ranks. Time and cost overruns are the norm, and total earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) are only around 5 percent despite the considerable risk in the industry.

As one of the world’s leading providers of construction intelligence solutions, thinkproject supports all players in the construction industry to meet the challenges of digitalisation in the three phases – design, build and operate – and to meet the needs of all parties involved in construction and engineering projects. Through digital cross-company collaboration, the potential of people and information in construction projects is tapped to ensure efficient project management.

“Digitisation in the construction industry will lead to a fundamental change in the automation of processes and insights into our customer’s data,” adds Gareth Burton. “Complex construction projects generate vast amounts of information and data that must be reliably captured, managed and disseminated. Our entire integrated solution portfolio acts as a “single source of truth” for all project information and supports the entire project lifecycle. We use it to connect people, teams, processes, information and systems across company boundaries, enabling an open, collaborative approach. Similar to other industries, we are also seeing the COVID 19 pandemic driving significant acceleration in the adoption of software and digital tools.”

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About Thinkproject

Based in Munich, Germany, Thinkproject is a global leader in construction intelligence, unlocking the potential of people and information through digital technologies to enable better industry results. It is the leading Europe-based construction and engineering SaaS provider with 2,750 customers, more than 250,000 users in over 60 countries, and over 450 employees.

More info: www.thinkproject.com

Press contact: Fabian Pecht / Samet Simsek, Havana Orange GmbH, thinkproject@havanaorange.de, +49 (89) 92 131 51 – 78/70

About Olmero

Olmero was launched in 2000 as a spin-off from the ETH Zurich. The company supports communication within the construction industry and enables the simplification of processes. As the market leader for Internet-based solutions, it makes an important contribution to increasing productivity in the construction industry.

More info: www.olmero.ch

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