VINCI Construction acquires property group and plans UK merger

The UK division of VINCI Construction has acquired a Merseyside-based property group and revealed plans for a merger.

The firm has acquired ION Property Group and announced that it plans to merge VINCI UK Developments, in order to create a single development business. Operating under the ION Developments brand, this division will focus on the local authority urban regeneration market and operate from ION Property Group’s headquarters at the Port of Liverpool Building.

ION Property Group and VINCI UK Developments already work jointly on several projects, including major urban regeneration schemes in Derby city centre, Chester Northgate 2, the Coventry Civic Centre site and Northwich Weaver Square.

ION’s existing development portfolio includes Stafford town centre, Borough Yard, Birkenhead and Westgate Wakefield. Post-transaction, these will also be delivered by the newly combined entity.

The merged business will be led by a senior team comprising Managing Director Steve Parry, Commercial Director Rob Mason (both former directors of ION), alongside Finance Director Ian Hudson, who previously led the VINCI UK Developments finance team.

The acquisition comes after 36 years of private ownership for ION Property Group and will see shareholders and non-executive directors Peter Hynd and Gavin Douglas depart the business.

Steve Parry commented: "At a time when local authorities and other public bodies across the UK are exploring new solutions for urban regeneration and the use of their land assets, this is the ideal moment to bring together these two specialist businesses to create a single regeneration developer which has the vision, experience and resources to bring projects of all sizes to life.”

"We already have a strong forward pipeline and the new structure will only enhance our capacity to deliver these and other future projects.”

Peter Hynd said: "ION has delivered many transformational regeneration schemes that have had a positive impact on our towns, cities and communities by delivering high quality urban buildings that have created a sense of place.

"Many of these projects were regarded as “too difficult”, but we have delivered consistently, working closely with our public sector partners. This deal with VINCI stands as testament to our legacy of success and we are proud to be leaving the business in such a strong position, with an incredibly bright future ahead and we wish the hard-working ION team every success in the future."

Scott Wardrop, Chief Executive of VINCI Construction in the UK, said the deal would create “a consolidated development business, that can harness even more of our collective strengths and support greater numbers of local authorities and other clients to make a long-lasting, positive change to their communities across future generations."

In the year to June 30 2025, ION Property Group Limited reported turnover of around £1.6 million, up from approximately £797,000 a year earlier, while operating profits dipped from £17,422 to £10,654.

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