Koon began in 1975 as a small sole proprietorship transporting rocks and stones for major international construction companies. Ability brought early success. Koon determined that it wanted to capitalise on this success and move up the value chain.

In 1979, Koon was incorporated and raised capital. With this boost in funds, it was able to increase manpower and equipment allowing it to collaborate more closely with international firms. This in turn allowed it to gain technical expertise. Koon focused on reclamation and related works.

In 1985, it went into a joint venture with a major marine engineering company, Zinkcon, to form Koon-Zinkcon which specialized in the protection of reclaimed shorelines. Zinkcon is now part of Royal Boskalis Westminster nv (“Boskalis”), a major international dredging and offshore engineering firm. This joint venture was very successful. It was therefore decided to make it permanent and was incorporated in 1997 as Koon-Zinkcon Pte Ltd (“KZ”).Whilst Koon still owns 50% of KZ, it is now being managed by persons independent of Koon. Accordingly it is treated as an investment and only dividend accounted.

Koon Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, was incorporated specifically for listing on the Australian and Singapore Stock Exchanges. Koon is the main operating company of the Group. For taxation and other reasons, company equipment is owned by separate entities: Entire owns and manages the Group’s land-based plant and equipment such as cranes and trucks; and Gems owns and manages the Group’s seaborne assets such as barges and tugs.

Koon has grown very significantly since 1977 and is now arguably one of the largest Singapore domestic civil engineering, reclamation and shore protection specialists. Koon is registered under the A1 category in civil engineering with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). It is also certified in integrated management system which covers Quality (ISO 9000), Environmental (ISO 14000) and Occupational Health and Safety (OHSAS 18000).

Normally, Koon operates as a main contractor on many of its own projects. On larger scale projects, particularly those on reclamation, Koon participates in joint ventures with other larger partners. This is mainly due to project requirement reasons – few groups have all the required resources to win and execute such projects alone.

In the last two decades, Koon has successfully completed a list of reclamation projects in Singapore which had contributed to the increase of Singapore’s land area by about twenty percent. These completed projects now form the new coastal lines of Singapore. They are at the WEST – Jurong Island & Tuas View, SOUTH – Marina Bay, Tanjung Rhu, Sentosa Cove & Pasir Panjang, EAST– Changi and NORTH – Punggol. The yet to be lifted ban on marine sand by the Indonesian Government has impeded the implementation of our nation’s reclamation plans and the industry’s progress.

Over the last couple of years, Koon has executed a higher percentage of water, sewage and power projects. Amongst the more notable are Bedok WPP and, Ulu Pandan WRP. The $118M Serangoon Dam project is currently in progress.

In addition, infrastructure projects have also become an important driver for Koon. In recent years, we had completed works like the Singapore Airshow, Pang Sua Canal and Meranti Infra. Currently we are executing the Construction Industries Park for BCA and Infrastructure 1 Gardens by the Bay for the National Parks Board (NParks).