Eiffage recruits new boss from rival Vinci

PARIS, Dec 9 (Reuters) - French construction and concessions
company Eiffage FOUG.PA said on Wednesday it had named Benoit
de Ruffray, a construction specialist with international
experience, as its new chairman and chief executive.
Ruffray, 49, hired from the ranks French rival Vinci 's
SGEF.PA executives, replaces CEO Pierre Berger, who died
suddenly in October. ID:nL8N12N1XB .
His appointment at the helm of France's third-largest
builder after Bouygues BOUY.PA and Vinci SGEF.PA will be
effective on Jan. 8.
Ruffray's nomination had been widely expected after reports
emerged in the French press earlier this month that he could be
chosen.
"Benoit de Ruffray's profile seems to be the right one,
especially as international development is a priority for
Eiffage," Bryan Garnier analysts had said in a recent note.
Under the stewardship of Berger, Eiffage restored its profit
margins after a global economic downturn weighed on construction
and public works, notably in France and expanded abroad through
acquisitions in Canada and Colombia.
Ruffray has been CEO of Vinci's specialised civil enginering
unit Soletanche Feyssinet since March 2015. He started his
career in 1990 in French construction group Bouygues BOUY.PA .
He was first at Bouygues Travaux Publics, where he held a
variety of positions.
In 2001 he was appointed to head Bouygues Travaux Publics'
Latin American area. Between 2003 and 2007 he was Chief
Executive Officer of Dragages Hong Kong, a subsidiary of
Bouygues Construction. In 2008, he was appointed Deputy Chief
Executive Officer of Bouygues Bâtiment International.
He is a graduate of French elite schools Ecole Polytechnique
and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees and also studied at
Imperial College London.
Eiffage, which built France's Millau viaduct and the Sydney
Opera House, generates about 85 percent of revenue from
construction and public works, with the rest from concessions,
mainly motorways, but also prisons and hospitals.
Eiffage is known for its tight cost control and has expanded
into higher-growth, more profitable concessions since the
financial crisis hit construction.