Total mergers and acquisitions in the AEC industry hit 171 in 2012, up slight from the 169 deals in 2011, according to consulting firm Morrissey Goodale, Newton, Mass. (www.morrisseygoodale.com).
One recent acquisition: Gantt Huberman Architects, a 26-person architecture/interiors firm in Charlotte, N.C., by Bergmann Associates, an architecture-engineering-planning firm headquartered in Rochester, N.Y. This makes the twelfth office for Bergmann and gives it a toehold in the Carolinas, according to Morrissey Goodale. Bergman now has 375 employees.
Meanwhile, supergiant Canadian A/E design firm Stantec, Edmonton, Alb. (2011 revenues: $463,300,000) was set to close on the acquisition of Greenhorne & O’Mara, a 520-employee engineering firm in Laurel, Md. Stantec also said it would pick up 21-person Architecture 2000, Moncton, N.B.
Other recent M&A activity of note:
- Moseley Architects (Richmond, Va.), known as a specialist in public-sector work, merged with BeeryRio (Springfield, Va.), a specialist in the design of senior housing.
- Haskell, an integrated designer, engineering, and construction firm based in Jacksonville, Fla., purchased H.R. Gray (Columbus, Ohio), a program management and construction services firm specializing in municipal projects.
- Canadian giant IBI Group (Toronto) finalized the deal for M-E Companies (Columbus, Ohio), an 80-member CE firm. +
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
AGC: Construction unemployment reaches 19.2%
Unemployment in the construction sector climbed to a “horrendous” 19.2 percent (not-seasonally adjusted) as an additional 59,000 construction workers lost their jobs in May according to new federal data, said construction economist Ken Simonson today.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler, HOK, HDR among the nation's leading reconstruction design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 100 Reconstruction Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler, Arup, HOK among the largest office sector design firms
A ranking of the Top 100 Office Design firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Callison strengthens retail design presence with RYA acquisition
Callison LLC on June 1 acquired RYA Design Consultancy, a Dallas-based retail architecture and design firm with offices in New York City. The new “Callison RYA Studio” will merge staff and clients into Callison ’s existing retail practice at their Dallas and New York offices.
| Aug 11, 2010
Prism-shaped design unveiled for five-star hotel in Saudi Arabia
Goettsch Partners has been commissioned by Saudi Oger Ltd. to design a new five-star, 214-key business hotel in the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As a design-build assignment, Saudi Oger is serving as the contractor, selected by developer Rayadah Investment Company. The project is sited on Parcel 1.08, one of the first 10 parcels currently under development in the massive new master-planned district.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction Specifications Institute to end support of MasterFormat 95 on December 31, 2009
The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) announced that the organization will cease to license and support MasterFormat 95 as of December 31, 2009. The CSI Board of Directors voted to stop licensing and supporting MasterFormat 95 during its June 16, 2009, meeting at the CSI Annual Convention in Indianapolis.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler among eight teams named finalists in 'classroom of the future' design competition
Eight teams were recognized today as finalists of the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom. Finalists submitted designs ranging from an outdoor classroom for children in inner-city Chicago, learning spaces for the children of salt pan workers in India, safe spaces for youth in Bogota, Colombia and a bamboo classroom in the Himalayan mountains.
