The year 2020 got off to a pretty good start ... until, suddenly, the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with consequences on both our health and the economy in its wake.
As far as the sanitary situation is concerned, Colas was able to keep people safe by swiftly rolling out new rules, procedures and resources across the Group, allowing staff to work safely during a pandemic. On the economic front, despite the fact that the crisis heavily impacted our business, especially in France as of mid-March, the decrease in revenue and profits was relatively limited. All in all, we held up fairly well. The Group’s business model proved to be resilient and ever so relevant, allowing to react quickly to manage the crisis. Based on the agility of our local network of business units and the power of a large global group, Colas’ model combines both decentralization and cross-business bridges. The crisis also highlighted the remarkable commitment and engagement of Colas teams in an unprecedented environment, both within their entities and at the service of their own communities, across a number of outreach initiatives. 

On August 25, 2021, Colas SA signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Destia Oy, which then belonged to the family-owned Ahlström Capital Group. Backed by a workforce of more than 1,600 people, the Destia Group is a major player in the field of road, rail and energy infrastructure in Finland. The acquisition is in line with Colas' strategy to pursue international growth in targeted regions (Northern Europe, United States, Germany) offering solid growth prospects.

In 2020 Colas built a new project around Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). For nearly 20 years, a sustainable development approach has been in place : countless grassroot initiatives were carried out over the decades across the Group’s geographies. The ACT (Act and Commit Together !) program allows Colas to accelerate, mobilize the people and the financial resources needed, structure actions and specific targets and indicators to measure the progress made.

On September 18, 2023, Bouygues initiated a public tender offer over Colas shares including a mandatory delisting. The operation was finalized on December 22, 2023, on which date Colas was delisted.