Bentley releases inaugural Bentley Infrastructure 500 Top Owners ranking

AMSTERDAM —Bentley Systems Inc., a provider of comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, released its inaugural Bentley Infrastructure 500 Top Owners ranking. This global compendium of the top public- and private-sector owners of infrastructure is based on the value of their cumulative infrastructure investments (measured by reported net tangible fixed assets). Data sources for the Bentley Infrastructure 500 included published financial statements and third-party research. The rankings, which Bentley will update annually, make it possible to readily compare investment levels across types of infrastructure, regions of the world, and public and private organizations. The full list is available for download at www.bentley.com/500. Readers are authorized and encouraged to use it for any purpose with attribution.

Bentley Systems has compiled the Bentley Infrastructure 500 Top Owners ranking to help global constituents appreciate and explore the magnitude of investment in infrastructure and the potential to continually increase the return on that investment. The infrastructure value represented is more than $13 trillion, which, to provide perspective, is close to the U.S. annual gross domestic product (GDP) and equal to the combined annual GDPs of China, Japan, and Germany. Bentley itself is committed to enhancing return on investment (ROI) through leveraging information modeling by way of integrated projects to create more intelligent infrastructure on behalf of owner organizations. Bentley already serves more than 75 percent of the Bentley Infrastructure 500 Top Owners and 92 of the top 100 owners, and has increased this focus through its AssetWise initiative for asset lifecycle information management.

Commenting on the release of the Bentley Infrastructure 500, CEO Greg Bentley said, “We anticipate a diverse, global audience for our new Top Owners ranking since all of us are infrastructure constituents and depend on infrastructure owners — and their stewardship of their infrastructure investments — to help sustain our society, environment, and economies. However, the many of us who participate in creating value for these owners as part of their supply chains will find the Bentley Infrastructure 500 rankings of particular interest and value in helping to gain insight and glean new opportunities. Equally important, the rankings and measurements provide a frame of reference to help all of us appreciate just how massive investments in infrastructure are, and the degree to which enabling better returns on these investments is leveraged.”

An analysis of the Bentley Infrastructure 500 substantiates the global nature of top-level investment in infrastructure, with 46 countries represented in the rankings. The top five countries, in terms of the infrastructure value of the Top Owners headquartered in each, are:
1.United States — 166 Top Owners, $4.2 trillion
2.Japan — 58 Top Owners, $1.3 trillion
3.China — 29 Top Owners, $869.6 billion
4.France — 22 Top Owners, $747.2 billion
5.United Kingdom — 23 Top Owners, $617.8 billion

Further analysis of the Top Owners shows the extensive involvement of the private sector in infrastructure investments, with 359 of the Bentley Infrastructure 500 being private-sector organizations. The total value of their infrastructure is more than $9 trillion.

The top 10 owners in the Bentley Infrastructure 500 and the value of their respective infrastructure are:
1.United States Government — $282.7 billion
2.Electricite de France SA – EDF — $186.4 billion
3.Gazprom (Russia) — $161.8 billion
4.PetroChina Co. Ltd. — $155.9 billion
5.Exxon Mobil Corp. — $139.1 billion
6.Petrobras (Brazil) — $132.2 billion
7.Royal Dutch Shell Plc — $129.1 billion
8.United States Department of the Army — $122.1 billion
9.Enel Spa (Italy) — $113.9 billion
10.Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (Japan) — $107.8 billion

Readers of the ranking will also learn that the largest:
•commercial facilities owner is No. 13, Wal-Mart Stores, at $102.3 billion;
•state government infrastructure owner is No. 14, California, at $102.2 billion;
•rail owner is No. 15, Ferrovie Dello Stato, at $101.6 billion;
•manufacturing owner is No. 31, Toyota Motor, at $71.9 billion;
•mineral resources owner is No. 36, Vale, at $66.1 billion;
•infrastructure owner in India is No. 81, Reliance Industries, at $38.1 billion;
•private infrastructure investor is No. 89, Ferrovial, at $35.9 billion;
•bank owner is No. 128, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, at $25.3 billion; and
•private water infrastructure owner is No. 322, Kemble Water Holdings, at $14.3 billion.

Other notable Top Owners are:
•No. 88, Government of Hong Kong, at $36.2 billion;
•No. 183, University of California, at $21.2 billion;
•No. 232, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, at $18.3 billion;
•No. 258, Walt Disney Co., at $17.5 billion;
•No. 404, Hospital Corporation of America, at $11.5 billion; and
•No. 468, city of Helsinki, at $10.2 billion.

“As the global economy improves and government investments in this area increase, the time to advance our infrastructure is now,” said Michael Valocchi, energy and utilities industry leader for IBM Global Business Services. “IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative is showing that doing more with what we have and adding intelligence to all elements of our infrastructure can enable better economic decisions and environmental outcomes. I congratulate Bentley on this fine new tool for the entire infrastructure community.”

Norbert Young, former leader of McGraw-Hill Construction and currently managing director of Duck Cove Associates consulting firm and a member of the Bentley Infrastructure Ambassadors Council, said, “Up to now, there wasn’t a ranking counterpart, to McGraw-Hill’s highly regarded ENR Top Lists of design and construction firms, compiling global infrastructure owners based on their cumulative net investment. With the release of the Bentley Infrastructure 500 Top Owners, AECO professionals and their many constituents can now refer to this well-researched ranking.”

To learn more about the Bentley Infrastructure 500 Top Owners ranking and to download a copy, visit www.bentley.com/500. Those wishing to provide new or updated information about their organizations for consideration in the 2011 edition of the Bentley Infrastructure 500 can visit www.bentley.com/500interest.