Aecon pulls out of Canada-US Gordie Howe Bridge project

Canadian construction company 8786 Aecon has withdrawn from a private group competing to construct and operate the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Canada and the US.

Aecon’s departure comes only weeks before the Canadian government plans to announce the winning group. Construction of the bridge - costing more than US$3.7 billion and between Windsor in Canada’s Ontario province and Detroit in the US state of Michigan - is scheduled to start in the autumn 2018.

Aecon’s chief executive reportedly denied that pulling out of the bridge bid was connected to the impending $930 million takeover of the company by state-owned 2661 China Communications Construction Company. He said that the work was not a priority for the company.

Aecon has been involved in many of Canada’s iconic infrastructure projects, including Toronto’s CN Tower, Vancouver’s SkyTrain, the St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system and the Halifax shipyard.

The takeover deal, expected to be finalised by mid-year, is awaiting approval from the Canada Investment Board, although the Ontario Supreme Court earlier gave its approval. The offer by Chinese government-owned company last October was almost unanimously accepted by Aecon shareholders.
 
However, the federal government recently extended its national security review of the deal and it will likely end in the summer.

China's ambassador to Canada weighed into the discussion soon after the deal was announced to allay fears about Canada’s national security being threatened.

"The technology from the Chinese side is much higher than the Canadian side... it is not necessary for them [the Chinese government] to steal the technologies from Canadian companies," Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to Canada, said.

The proposed deal, he said, was a "very normal business transaction", adding that no military technologies. "In my point of view, it is not necessary to have the scan in the prospective of national security reasons," he reportedly said.