Engineering Inc. - November/December 2015 - (Page 52)

Mergers and Acquisitions BY N E I L C H U R M A N Three Things Every First-Time Buyer Should Do W hile some industry negotiating the deal is only firms have made half the battle. For many mergers and acquisibuyers, the real work comes tions (M&A) a regular part of during integration. First-time their growth strategy, the majorbuyers should consider their ity of firms largely remain on the own operations and systems M&A sidelines. At some point, and how prepared they are to though, many firms will decide combine them with a potento take the plunge and pursue tial acquisition. Issues such as an acquisition. project management, human We've seen more than 100 resources and information firms strike their first deal so technology can often be the far in 2015. It's important to most challenging components remember that even the firms of the initial integration. that are the most experienced The list of things first-time and successful at M&A were buyers need to consider is long, once first-time buyers. If your but if firms ready to embark on firm is considering growing their first deal keep these critical through acquisition, here items in mind, they'll be better are three critical things you positioned to make their deal a should do. success. ● Start with strategy. Firms pursue M&A for a multitude Recent ACEC Deal-Makers of reasons. Some are seeking to OCTOBER 2015 capitalize on market growth, ACEC Member KJWW Engineering Consultants (Rock some are seeking to shore up capabilities and resources, Island, Ill.) and TTG Engineers and some join up to be more (Pasadena, Calif.) have merged competitive in their current to create a 900-employee workmarkets. Firms need to have a force spread across 25 national clearly defined strategic ratioand five international locations. nale for pursuing M&A, with buy-in for that strategy among SEPTEMBER 2015 the firm's leadership team. ACEC Member Weidlinger ● Stay grounded. For many Associates (New York City), first-time buyers, rosy projecwhich specializes in structural tions and ambitious growth engineering, merged with ACEC goals can cloud judgment, Member Thornton Tomasetti which can lead to overpaying (New York City), a provider of and subsequent results fallengineering design, investigation ing short of expectations. All and analysis. The combined firm buyers, especially first-timers, will have 1,200 employees. need to establish a supportACEC Member WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff (Montreal, able financial model for the deal that includes some degree Canada) acquired structural of contingency should things engineering firm Halvorson and Partners (Chicago). not go as planned. Moreover, buyers need to set their "walk ACEC Member Johnson, away" point for the deal, which Mirmiran & Thompson (JMT) is the maximum price they are (Sparks, Md.) signed a letter willing to pay. of intent to acquire Tidewa● Set the table. Identifying and ter Environmental Services 52 ENGINEERING INC. NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2015 ■ To view the most up-to-date and "live" versions of the M&A heat maps, and to see the buyers and sellers in each state, go to www.morrisseygoodale.com. ■ Watch the M&A Takeaway video that accompanies this article, presented by Mick Morrissey, at www.morrisseygoodale.com/ACECMergers/NovDec2015. (Charleston, S.C.), a natural resources consulting firm. The acoustics team of Wright Consulting Associates (Indianapolis, Ind.) joined ACEC Member KJWW Engineering Consultants (Rock Island, Ill.), an engineering consulting firm specializing in the health care, education and industrial building markets. ACEC Member SvR Design Company (Seattle) joined multidisciplinary planning and design firm MIG (Berkeley, Calif.). SvR's 32-person staff will become the Seattle office of MIG. ACEC Member Independent Mapping Consultants (Charlotte, N.C.) acquired Carolina Resource Mapping (Wilmington, N.C.), which specializes in mapping services for transportation and public sector clients. AUGUST 2015 Stantec (Edmonton, Canada) signed a letter of intent to acquire Fay, Spofford & Thorndike (Burlington, Mass.), an engineering, planning and environmental firm. Both are ACEC members. Stantec also acquired VA Consulting (Irvine, Calif.), a community development, transportation and water engineering firm. ACEC Member WSP Global (Montreal, Canada) entered into an agreement to acquire 2,000-person MMM Group (Thornhill, Canada), which specializes in transportation, infrastructure and the environment. ACEC Members Alfred Benesch & Company (Chicago), a transportation and infrastructure firm, and Tucker, Young, Jackson, Tull (Detroit), an environmental and civil engineering firm, have merged. ACEC Member Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kan.) acquired RCC Consultants (Woodbridge, N.J.), a global telecommunications firm. ACEC Members David Evans and Associates (Portland, Ore.) and Triad (Woodinville, Wash.), a multidisciplinary design firm, have merged. Neil Churman is principal consultant of Morrissey Goodale LLC-a strategy, M&A and human capital solutions firm serving the A/E/C industry. Churman, who is based in the firm's Houston office, can be reached at nchurman@ morrisseygoodale.com. http://www.morrisseygoodale.com http://www.morrisseygoodale.com/ACECMergers/NovDec2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - November/December 2015

Engineering Inc. - November/December 2015
Contents
From ACEC to You
Market Watch
Legislative Action
Traveling Smart
Idustry Drone Use Taking Flight
Back to Life
Economic Power of Employee Engagement
Young Professionals of the Year
Market Driven
2015 Fall Conference
Guest Column
Guest Column
Business Insights
Members in the News
Mergers and Acquisitions

Engineering Inc. - November/December 2015