Richard Leupen turns UGL into world player with help of C.Y. Leung

Richard Leupen's Midas touch has driven UGL from an Australian construction company with 3,000 staff to a global diversified service firm of 56,000 employees.

The 58-year-old engineer-turned-entrepreneur worked for Australian and international engineering companies, including GHD and Kaiser Engineers, before joining UGL as its chief executive in September 2000.

His early career as an engineer and project manager included stints at mining conglomerate BHP Billiton, energy giant Shell and Simcoa Operations, an Australian silicon producer.

UGL was catapulted into the spotlight of the mainland and Hong Kong property industry last December when it bought debt-ridden DTZ - the first real estate adviser to list on the London Stock Exchange, in 1987 - for £77.5 million (HK$974 million).

DTZ, a British property consultancy whose history spans more than two centuries, was extended to Asia after an equity exchange with Asian partners, including the local business of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.

Leung, formerly chairman of DTZ Asia-Pacific, resigned from the property consultancy at the end of last year.