Damage restoration from a single source

The Haniel Umweltschutz (Environmental Services) Division starts its first activities in the field of fire damage restoration and preventive fire protection through acquisitions in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Italy.

Haniel Umweltschutz is split into two new divisions: Haniel Industrie-Service and Haniel Envirotec. Haniel Envirotec’s activities include machine and plant overhauls, electronics restoration, preventive fire protection and asbestos removal.

BELFOR enters the US market and becomes a world-leading disaster recovery and restoration company by the acquisition of shares of Enterprise International and DRS.

BELFOR acquires a leading European competitor (Relectronic-Remech) and enters the Asian market.The Division is renamed BELFOR International whose core business is the restoration of fire and water damage.

Within a period of two years, BELFOR has become the market leader in the United States for the repair of fire, water and storm damage. Since entering the market in 1999, BELFOR USA has already acquired a number of medium-sized damage repair firms. With the takeover of the existing US-market leader INRECON LLC in July 2001, BELFOR has accomplished a major coup. INRECON – the name stands for INsurance RECONstruction – has annual sales of $180 million and employs 1,000 staff. Sheldon Yellen is the CEO of Inrecon.

BELFOR opens new branch offices in Germany, Austria and expands its East European business to Poland and Czech Republic. The Asian market is strengthened by a new operation in Japan while the Canadian operations acquire two competitors (Babayan’s Construction Ltd., Toronto and CR Associates, Ottawa) and expands to the eastern part of Canada.

BELFOR Belgium acquires Amiral Clean, whose focus is the restoration of fire and water damages in the residential market. The Haniel Group sells 75% of the BELFOR-shares to the newly established BELFOR Holdings Inc., whose headquarters are in Brimingham, Michigan USA and which is headed by the current top management of the BELFOR Group. This means the present managing directors of the holding company, the managing directors of the European and, in particular, of the North American country operations as well as other top managers are the new shareholders of BELFOR. The BELFOR Group is now jointly headed by Bernd Elsner and Sheldon Yellen. Elsner is responsible for the European and Asian operations and Yellen continues to run the United States and Canadian operations.

BELFOR Holdings Inc. acquires DUCTZ International, LLC, a professional air duct cleaning and HVAC (heating/ventilating/air conditioning) restoration franchise network. With current locations in 22 states, DUCTZ can now grow in tandem with BELFOR to increase its independent client base, as well as service BELFOR clients with HVAC restoration services. Ahead of schedule, BELFOR Holdings Inc. takes over the remaining 25% of the shares from Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH. The company is now owned 100% by the top management.

BELFOR strengthens its market position in Asia by founding a company in Shanghai, China: BELFOR Recovery Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. BELFOR enters the Slovakian market by founding BELFOR Slovakia spol. sro in Bratislava, Slovakia and the Eastern European market presence now includes Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. BELFOR USA acquires the Alexander Wall Corporation (AWC) from Long Island, NY, to better serve the Greater New York City metropolitan area.

In the wake of the dreadful earthquake in Chile, BELFOR USA establishes BELFOR Chile SA to serve as an immediate, local point of contact for the ensuing extensive restoration projects in South America.

A partnership alliance agreement between BELFOR Asia and Fubon Insurance, Taiwan’s leading insurance company, is signed. With its technical centres and human resource talent pools, the Taiwan market has played – and continues to play – an important part in the expansion and success of BELFOR Asia.

BELFOR acquires BAMCOR, an industry leader in rebuilding, repairing and restoring loss-affected production machinery and equipment. BAMCOR and BELFOR join forces to strengthen the company’s ability to provide turnkey mechanical, hydraulic, structural and electrical rebuild capabilities in North America.

BELFOR acquired the Danish Røsva Skadeservice company. This initial move into Europe’s northernmost area is the first in a region where we are targeting expansion and further investment in the near future.

BELFOR continues to grow into a $2 billion company and extend its global operations into 34 different countries.

BELFOR Germany acquires AllTroSan Baumann+Lorenz Trocknungsservice GmbH & Co. KG. With the competence and experience of Alltrosan, BELFOR Germany further develops its competence and efficiency in the field of drying.

BELFOR Austria acquires TEAM RED GmbH, a specialist for fire, water, mold damages and leak detection. With this acquisition the national market leader is able to act faster and expands its geographical coverage.

BELFOR France merges with CMBB, a company that works in the field of renovation and post-disaster maintenance projects for professional and private customers. This acquisition enables BELFOR France to expand its range of services in the area of renovation.

BELFOR Netherlands acquires Technon Service Reconditioning BV in Uden, a specialist for technical reconditioning, preventive maintenance and advice. With this acquisition BELFOR Netherlands offers the full range of services in a further region.

BELFOR Italy acquires Quadra, a company based in Florence that is specialized in damage restoration after fire and flood and renovation. This acquisition enables BELFOR to expand its geographical coverage.

BELFOR Denmark welcomes Rølund into the BELFOR family. Adding Rølund is a logical step on our growth path after a geographical expansion over the last years. The combined companies will be able to offer a one-stop-shop solution to the Danish customers.

The BELFOR Group announces its merger with the Partech Group, a company that has been recognised and qualified in the sanitation and disaster recovery market for over 15 years. This acquisition will enable BELFOR to strengthen its geographical coverage and its presence in the private sector.

The BELFOR group expands its geographical coverage in Scandinavia and welcomes the SSG teams in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. BELFOR and SSG have agreed to join forces to strengthen their customer service in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. With SSG, BELFOR grows its skilled and experienced teams with great people, increases its service capability and optimises response times for national and international clients.