WSP completes £1.5bn acquisition of Wood’s infrastructure business

WSP Global announced the acquisition of the E&I division of the British engineering business - commonly known as Wood - through a sale and purchase agreement on Wednesday 21 September.

The multinational paid $1.801bn (£1.59bn) for the division which was funded with a term credit facility including various tenors of up to five years in length.

WSP president and chief executive Alexandre L’Heureux stated the purchase was part of the company's "bold ambitions" to "seize opportunities" in the environmental and water sectors.

He said: “We are pleased to welcome E&I’s 6,000 professionals into the WSP family and are excited to create a strong market leader from two respected organizations with bold ambitions.

“Joining forces will allow us to offer our clients expanded world-class multidisciplinary services while bringing new solutions and enhanced value. This transaction will also enable us to further seize opportunities in the fast-growing environmental and water sectors.”

The acquisition was originally announced in June.

E&I's employees are based in some 100 offices in over ten countries in which they provide a number of services to clients across the government, infrastructure and energy sectors.

These services include engineering, remediation consulting, environmental permitting, inspection, monitoring, and environmental management services.

L’Heureux continued: “Aligned with our global strategic action plan, this acquisition, along with our other recently announced transactions, will contribute to the achievement of our strategic ambitions while expanding our geographical range and adding expertise in key sectors.

"This will create even greater momentum as we future-proof our cities and our environment.”

The acquisition comes just over a month after WSP agreed a deal to buy out RPS for £591.1M which was announced only a week after the firm reached an agreement with UK-headquartered Capita to acquire two real estate and infrastructure consultancy businesses for £60M.

Executive president of E&I Consulting Joe Sczurko said: “We are excited to join a world-leading consulting firm, where our combined expertise will add value for our clients through strengthened service capability, global reach and deep portfolio of technical experts.

“Together with WSP, we will be a unique advisor and provider for clients across all sectors and services, and the aspirations of our people for a more sustainable future have room to grow.

“We are now an industry leader at a time when environmental and infrastructure needs are a global priority.”

Like what you've read? To receive New Civil Engineer's daily and weekly newsletters click here.