b'Whats in a name? Robert Moore has worked with Thiess since 1988. Together, we implemented many changes in systems and practices, he says. The changes, for me, signaled the startThe name CIMIC derives fromof a new Thiess.an acronym of construction, infrastructure, mining andCraig Morton is CFO and a longstanding Thiess person, and he remembers it well.concessions.It was a time of change, but there was relief when the decision was made to make Thiess the mining arm. We needed to go through a period of adjustment, but therewas a clear way forward to execute and run our business.We needed to dust ourselves off and plan for the future, Michael concludes. Most of our mining was in coal, which at the time was challenging financially because the commodity price had tanked. We needed to build some resilience into our operationsback then it wasnt about being green. It was just about diversifying our revenue streams and setting ourselves up for the future.Here, two new names enter the story. In April 2015, Leighton Holdings changed its name to CIMIC, and the construction businesses of Thiess Contractors and Leighton Contractors were brought under the one umbrella, a new entity called CPB Contractors. In 2017, Michael had taken an executive role within CIMIC and Douglas Thompson took the helm at Thiess. Through 2018 and 2019, a priority was placed onto people, and engagement was on the way up, he says. Finances, too, were on the way back up.The strategy was working. CIMIC Group announced the 50 per cent sale of Thiess, by this time the worlds largest mining services provider. The buyer was the London-based arm of the funds management firm Elliott Investment Management, and the transaction valued Les and Berts old earth-moving company from the Darling Downs at $4.3 billion. In April 2024 CIMIC bought 10 per cent back off Elliott to leave a 60/40 split between the owners. And thats where the ownership of Thiess remains as it celebrates its ninetieth birthday.104'