Higgins Group Holdings

What Higgins Group Holdings does

Higgins Group Holdings is a New Zealand-based civil construction company founded in 1958 in Manawatu by Irish immigrant Dan Higgins, now headquartered in Palmerston North. The company delivers a fully integrated portfolio of civil construction services and infrastructure product manufacturing across New Zealand, with a stated workforce of over 1,400 people (rising to over 1,600 in recent reporting) operating from nine or more regional offices spanning Northland to the South Island and into Fiji.

The company's core offering combines construction services (road building, motorways, subdivisions, wind farms, sports facilities, traffic management, road maintenance, surfacing, and road marking) with manufacturing of infrastructure products including asphalt, bulk and emulsified bitumen, bitumen tankers and sprayers (via Specialised Engineering Services), road signage and traffic safety products (via Approach Signs), and aggregates (via Masterton Quarry and Napier Port bitumen facility). Quality assurance is supported by IANZ-registered laboratories in multiple locations and the proprietary Higgins M5 cloud-based fleet management platform, which provides plant certification, asset lifecycle management, fuel monitoring, driver behaviour tracking, and pre-start checks. Operational technology includes Topcon GPS-based precision grade control and remote-controlled compaction equipment.

Higgins generates revenue through a combination of one-time civil construction contracts, recurring central and local government maintenance contracts, and hardware sales of manufactured products. Customers are predominantly New Zealand government entities - NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, Auckland Transport, regional and district councils - supplemented by enterprise customers such as Mercury NZ for renewable energy civil works. The company is privately held: it was acquired by Fletcher Building in 2016 and became part of Fletcher Construction, which in turn was acquired by VINCI Construction in May 2026, integrating Higgins into a global construction group.

Name

Higgins Group Holdings

Legal name

Higgins

Website

https://higgins.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Higgins Group Holdings is a New Zealand civil construction company founded in 1958, providing integrated road construction, maintenance, and infrastructure product manufacturing for government agencies, councils, and energy developers nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil Construction and Road Infrastructure

NAICS

Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413), Asphalt Shingle and Coating Materials Manufacturing (324122)

SIC

Heavy Construction Other Than Bldg Const - Contractors (1600), Asphalt Paving & Roofing Materials (2950)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction Management (Agency/Owner’s Rep) (IMAFAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Asphalt Aggregates & Specialty Aggregates (Rail Ballast, Riprap, Lightweight) (IMADAAAJ), Right-of-way access, foundations & civil works for T&D projects (EUADAKAJ)

Keywords

• Civil construction services
• Road infrastructure construction
• Asphalt bitumen manufacturing
• Road maintenance contracts
• Aggregate quarry supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Wanganui

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Civil Construction Contracts: Infrastructure construction projects including roads, motorways, wind farms, housing developments, and sports facilities delivered from design through to completion.
2. Government Maintenance Contracts: Central and local government contracts for state highways, urban and rural road maintenance including grass cutting, culvert clearing, pothole filling, resurfacing, and emergency remedial work.
3. Asphalt and Bitumen Products: Manufacturing and supply of asphalt, bulk bitumen, bitumen emulsions, and specialist bitumen products through 12 permanent and two mobile production plants.
4. Road Signage Manufacturing: Manufacturing of standard and custom-designed road signage through Approach Signs subsidiary, supplying traffic safety products.
5. Bitumen Tanker Manufacturing: Building bitumen tankers and sprayers through Specialised Engineering Services, including servicing and upgrading existing equipment.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Higgins Group Holdings is a New Zealand civil construction contractor delivering a fully integrated complement of civil construction services including roads, motorways, bridges, wind farms, housing development infrastructure, and sports facilities from design through to delivery. The company also manufactures asphalt and specialist bitumen products, road signage, and bitumen tankers/sprayers, supported by IANZ-accredited laboratory testing and road maintenance and asset management contracts for government and private clients.

Product overview

Higgins Group Holdings operates as a civil construction company offering a unified portfolio of integrated services across New Zealand. The company provides asphalt and bitumen product manufacturing (including specialist emulsions and polymer-blended products), road signage manufacturing through Approach Signs, bitumen sprayer and tanker construction via Specialised Engineering Services, aggregates from Masterton Quarry, comprehensive construction services for infrastructure projects, IANZ-accredited laboratory and testing services across multiple locations, road maintenance and asset management contracts, road marking, surfacing solutions (asphalt and chip seal), and traffic management services. Major projects include the Eastern Busway Alliance, Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm Stage 2, and the SH2 Melling Transport Improvements programme. The company is part of Fletcher Construction (owned by VINCI Construction since 2026) and employs over 1,400 people throughout New Zealand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Specialised Engineering Services (SES): Business that builds bitumen tankers and sprayers for customers throughout New Zealand
• Approach Signs

Products and services

• Civil Construction Services End-to-end civil contracting for roads, motorways, bridges, housing development infrastructure, wind farms, sports tracks, and hard-stand yards, covering earthworks, drainage, pavement construction, kerbing, traffic services, sealing, and asphalt paving from design through to delivery for NZTA, councils, energy developers, and private developers.
• Asphalt and Bitumen Products Manufacture, import, and supply of bulk bitumen, asphalt, bitumen emulsions, polymer-blended bitumen, spray seal products, slurry seal systems, crack seal, and colour coatings for roading contractors and infrastructure projects across New Zealand.
• Laboratory and Materials Testing Services IANZ-accredited materials testing services covering soil, aggregate, asphalt, and bitumen testing, mix design, pavement performance verification, and materials compliance, offered to Higgins' own projects and external customers across New Zealand.
• Road Maintenance and Asset Management Central and local government maintenance contracts covering state highways, urban and rural roads, including grass cutting, culvert clearing, pothole repair, resurfacing, and emergency remedial work delivered through Higgins' regional network.
• Surfacing Solutions Comprehensive pavement surfacing services including dense graded asphalt, high performance asphalt for airports and ports, stone mastic asphalt for skid resistance, open graded porous asphalt for motorways, chip sealing for state highways, and Otta seals for unsealed roads.
• Road Marking NZRM-certified road marking services providing surface marking for road safety, car parks, and sports courts, performed by staff qualified in road marking standards.
• Traffic Management Temporary traffic management services for construction sites ranging from complex motorway projects to small rural sites, delivered through planned, standards-compliant traffic management.
• Bitumen Sprayers and Tankers (Specialised Engineering Services) Design, build, servicing, and upgrading of bitumen tankers and sprayers for roading contractors throughout New Zealand, manufactured by subsidiary Specialised Engineering Services (SES).
• Road Signage and Traffic Safety Products (Approach Signs) Manufacture and supply of standard and custom-designed road signage plus traffic safety products (NZTA-compliant road cones, temporary warning stands, and high-visibility vests) through subsidiary Approach Signs.
• Aggregates Supply (Masterton Quarry) Manufacture and supply of high-quality roading materials, asphalt, concrete aggregates, and garden products from the Masterton Quarry for the Wairarapa region and surrounding markets.

Quantifiable outcome

• Kaiwera Downs Stage 2 generates enough electricity to power 73,000 additional homes annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship/parent, core and minor.

• Fletcher Constructionflagship/parentStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Higgins was purchased by Fletcher Building in 2016 and became part of the Fletcher Construction family of brands. Works alongside Fletcher Construction Major Projects team and Brian Perry Civil. Fletcher Construction acquired by VINCI Construction in 2026.
• Auckland TransportcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance partner for Eastern Busway project. Auckland Transport leads the alliance with Fletcher Construction, ACCIONA, AECOM, and Jacobs in partnership with mana whenua.
• ACCIONAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance partner in Eastern Busway delivery alongside Auckland Transport, Fletcher Construction, AECOM, and Jacobs.
• AECOMcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance partner in Eastern Busway delivery alongside Auckland Transport, Fletcher Construction, ACCIONA, and Jacobs.
• JacobscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance partner in Eastern Busway delivery alongside Auckland Transport, Fletcher Construction, ACCIONA, and AECOM.
• Mercury NZcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHiggins delivers Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm Stage 2 civil construction for Mercury NZ. Stage 2 delivers 36 Vestas turbines generating additional 155MW capacity.
• Britton HousemoversminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerContractor engaged to move Melling Station (25-tonne heritage building) to temporary storage site for SH2 Melling Transport Improvements project.
• Brian Perry CivilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister company within Fletcher Construction, specialist ground engineering and civil construction company acquired in 1986. Collaborates on projects like Rangiuru Business Park Interchange.
• MATES in ConstructioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity dedicated to reducing suicide in construction industry. Higgins teams achieve MATES accreditation through General Awareness training and Connector programmes to support mental health.
• Fletcher Building Whakatupu ProgrammeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMāori and Pasifika leadership programme run by parent company Fletcher Building to increase representation in leadership positions.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• HEB Construction: HEB Construction is a tier-one NZ civil contractor with strong presence in road maintenance, roading infrastructure and civil works, directly competing with Higgins for NZTA, council and developer contracts across both North and South Islands.
• Fulton Hogan: Fulton Hogan is the largest privately held road and infrastructure contractor in New Zealand and Australia, directly competing with Higgins across asphalt manufacturing, civil construction and road maintenance. Head of EHSQ Nikki Robinson joined Higgins from Fulton Hogan after 20 years, indicating close labour-market and capability overlap.
• Isaac Construction: Isaac Construction is a privately held New Zealand civil construction contractor with strong presence in the South Island, directly competing with Higgins on roading, civil infrastructure and aggregates projects.
• Brian Perry Civil: Brian Perry Civil is a sister company within Fletcher Construction (and now VINCI Construction) specialising in ground engineering and civil construction. It collaborates with Higgins on projects such as Rangiuru Business Park Interchange and shares the same ultimate parent and government client base.

Broad incumbents

• CPB Contractors: CPB Contractors is the construction arm of CIMIC Group and one of Australia's largest civil contractors, with growing exposure in NZ transport infrastructure. It competes with Higgins on large alliance-style transport projects and brings global tier-one scale.
• Downer Group: Downer Group is an ASX-listed large infrastructure services company operating across Australia and New Zealand in roads, rail, utilities and facilities. It directly competes with Higgins in NZ roading and maintenance while offering a much broader national-scale platform.
• John Holland: John Holland is a major Australian civil contractor owned by CCCC International, active in transport, energy and water infrastructure. Comparable to Higgins as a tier-one civil contractor bidding on government infrastructure projects, with broader geographic and capability reach.
• ACCIONA Infrastructure: ACCIONA is a global infrastructure and renewables company that is Higgins' alliance partner on the Eastern Busway. They are a comparable tier-one civil contractor operating internationally, with renewable energy and transport infrastructure overlap.
• Fletcher Building: Fletcher Building was Higgins' parent from 2016 until its Construction division was acquired by VINCI in 2026. Through its broader construction and building products businesses (Winstone Aggregates, etc.), Fletcher Building overlapped with Higgins across aggregates, civil construction and infrastructure materials.

Others

• Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (as client/competitor context): NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is Higgins' largest single customer and contract counterparty. Included here as the dominant NZ road infrastructure procurer whose procurement decisions shape Higgins' revenue pipeline and competitive dynamics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/higginsgroupnz
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/higgins-group-palmerston-north
• Xx.com/Higgins_Group

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Higgins Group Holdings