The president and chief executive of Aecon Group said the construction giant is “not for sale” after the Canadian government blocked its takeover from a Chinese state-owned firm in late May.   

“All we now know is we’re moving forward, onwards and upwards,” said John Beck, speaking in his first interview with BNN Bloomberg since the deal was squashed.  “But of course, we are responsible, we are a public company, and should anyone be interested it would be our fiduciary obligation to consider anything that was an approach – but we’re not for sale.”  

The federal government killed the $1.5-billion takeover by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), citing national security concerns. Aecon was put up for sale in August 2017 and sold to CCCC in October.  

While Beck said he respects the decision, he added it means Aecon will face more difficulty competing with rivals.

“We would have been able to pursue more [international opportunities] and therefore create more job opportunities in Canada,” he said.

“We also would have been able to compete on more of an equal footing with the very large international construction companies that are in Canada – much bigger than we are,” Beck added.  “And by bulking up we would have been able to compete more directly with them.”  

Beck said he believes foreign investors will still want to come to Canada for the right opportunities despite Ottawa’s decision.

And as for Aecon’s future, Beck said the company has picked up a lot of projects domestically, so much so that their backlog has increased 40 to 50 per cent.

The company has also been seeking a new CEO, a process Beck said is “aggressively” underway now that the sale process is over.

Beck said he will stay with company as long as necessary to help with his successor’s transition.