Dublin-based construction company Mercury to invest €25m in German facility

Dublin-based construction company Mercury is to invest €25 million in a new engineering and off-site manufacturing facility in Germany.

The group said the second phase of the facility development, which is based in Schönebeck, Saxony-Anhalt, may see investment grow to €45 million.

Mercury operates in key sectors including data centres, semiconductors and life sciences. Germany is currently its largest market, with the region contributing close to €500 million in turnover, making this investment a big strategic step for the company.

The facility will serve as an engineering hub that will host a team of over 200 professionals delivering design, building information modelling, and value engineering services to support the group’s multinational clients across its core sectors.

In addition to offering engineering expertise it will also operate as the principal off-site manufacturing fabrication headquarters for mainland Europe.

Mercury has long-standing off-site manufacturing operations across multiple sites in Ireland with a wide supply chain of more than 70 modular construction partners throughout Europe.

Current operations are capable of delivering carbon, stainless and high-purity process pipework to its clients across Europe.

The Schönebeck facility will provide 25,000sq m of manufacturing and operations space, allowing for faster delivery and increased productivity using cost-effective methods and processes.

Mercury chief executive Eoin Vaughan said: “Mercury’s focus on sustainable growth and high-quality and certainty of delivery to our clients is a top priority for us.

“Our capital investment in Germany that will develop a new engineering and off-site manufacturing fabrication headquarters for mainland Europe demonstrates the commitment to the next phase of our ambitions as a pan-European leader in the semiconductor, life sciences and data centre spaces.”

Construction will begin later this year, with an operational date of May 2025.

Mercury is one the Republic’s largest mechanical and electrical contractors. It builds and manages complex engineering and construction projects for the world’s leading corporations. CRH chief executive Albert Manifold joined the board of the group last year.

Mercury was subject to a management buyout in 2017 that valued the business at almost €150 million.

Its recent projects include responsibility for lighting and small power electrical installation at the National Children’s Hospital and work on various data centres.

The firm was founded in 1972 by the late Frank O’Kane and Joe Morgan, and has annual revenues of €1.5 billion. The 2018 buyout was led by Mr Vaughan and other senior directors.