The Erbasu Group was founded in 1990 by Mihai Erbasu with his sons, Cristian and Alexandru, together with their uncle, Ion, now continuing the legacy of the famous businessman. Apart from the civil and industrial construction businesses (including the production of metallic constructions, pre-fabricated items or asphalt mixes), the Erbaşu family also holds control over companies in the real estate, agriculture and animal breeding sector, food industry (as owners of the Erbalact diary plant ) and in the hotel industry.
The Ibis Styles Erbas hotel in the capital city Bucharest, for instance, was reopened in July 2018 after an EUR 4 million investment by Erbaşu Constructions in its renovation. It is the first accommodation unit in Bucharest affiliated to the Ibis Styles chain and the second countrywide. The hotel is located in the northern area of the city, near the Aviatiei-Pipera business area, and is operated by the Polish Orbis group.
Investments and contracts
Cristian Erbasu was mentioned in 2018 in the local press as being involved, in partnership with businessman Daniel Piţurlea, in the Arbo Residence project, a 1,000 units residential complex that will be built on a six hectare plot of land in Mogosoaia, near Bucharest. It is estimated that the needed investment will reach EUR 70 million, of which EUR 20 million have already been secured in 2018. In the first phase of the project as many as 300 houses are to be built, all scheduled for completion by December 2019 The whole compound should be completed in 2022.
But things also move in the construction area for third parties. Following a relatively steady revenues in this area in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the Erbaşu family expects a significant increase in turnover as of 2019, considering the contracts already signed. Among other things, it is about 179 million lei plus VAT for the thermal rehabilitation of 74 blocks of flats in sector 6 of the capital and a contract of 210 million lei plus VAT granted to the group of companies including Construcții Erbaşu SA – Concelex SRL – Terra Gaz Construct SRL for the reconstruction of the Steaua stadium in Bucharest. The new arena, with a capacity of 30,500 seats, should be ready until EURO 2020, when it should be used for the training of the participating teams.
Last year the Trameco – Vahostav – Construcții Erbaşu – Grafic Tends team was designated by the National Road Infrastructure Administration Company (CNAIR) as the winner of the auction for the road junction between Bucharest and DJ401 Bucharest-Berceni. The value of the project is 146 million lei plus VAT. Not to be overlooked is the contract of more than 70 million lei plus VAT for the construction, in partnership with Selina SA, of a multi-purpose sports facility with as many as 5,000 seats in Oradea.
An ambitious target
The above-mentioned projects come after a less happy period especially in the area of transportation infrastructure works. Businessman Cristian Erbasu has complained quite recently that his construction company took part in an EUR 3 billion bid for roads and motorways and was only awarded a contract of about EUR 30 million.
However, the new works that the Erbaşu group will be involved in will add to an already impressive portfolio. Over the years, the company controlled by the Erbasu family has been active, among other projects, in major construction and rehabilitation projects, such as the swimming pools in Bucharest (Steaua and Dinamo), Focsani and Titu, the Alexandria sports hall, the Vitan business complex, Ibis Styles Bucharest, Turnu Magurele stadium, Calarasi train station, Constanta exhibition complex, Timisoara, Târgovişte and Dorohoi wastewater treatment plants and many supermarkets, factories, residential and office buildings.
Other important projects of the company are those involving water, sewage and road networks in the Vatra Noua, Străuleşti, Odăi and Giuleşti districts in Bucharest, the Ploieşti hippodrome and municipal park, other water, sewage, gas networks, district heating and road constructions in several counties in the country, as well as the thermal rehabilitation of more than 1,000 blocks of flats in the capital city.
Things should go for the better, think the family representatives, who recently said that they want their businesses to be active abroad ten years from now on see the turnover of the group reaching the milestone of EUR 1 billion.
