The U.S. construction market for critical environments (*1), such as the construction and retrofit of data centers and semiconductor manufacturing facilities, has been rapidly growing due to increasing demand driven by the spread of AI technologies and is expected to continue growing. In particular, Arizona and other states in the Southwestern United States have become major hubs attracting significant investment.

GCON has extensive experience in critical environment projects and is highly regarded in its home state of Arizona for retrofit work on semiconductor manufacturing facilities. It also has a strong track record in colocation data center (*2) construction. GCON employs a large team of skilled mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) specialists with hands-on experience in critical environment construction.

The Obayashi Group has a proven track record in critical environment construction in Japan and other Asian countries. By making GCON a subsidiary of Webcor, which has extensive experience in residential, healthcare, and educational facility construction in California, the Obayashi Group will build on Webcor's solid business foundation while leveraging GCON's local network, customer base, and construction experience to enter the rapidly growing U.S. critical environment construction market in earnest. In addition, by expanding its business into Arizona, a neighboring state of California where Webcor is based, the Obayashi Group aims to further enhance its corporate value.