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
| Jul 23, 2014
Top Healthcare Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
HDR, Stantec, and HKS top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest healthcare architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 23, 2014
Tallest skyscraper in South Korea now open
The Northeast Asia Trade Tower stands at 308 meters and is the focal point of the Songdo International Business District, a new 310-hectare city built on reclaimed land.
| Jul 23, 2014
Architecture Billings Index up nearly a point in June
AIA reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a mark of 52.6 in May.
| Jul 22, 2014
L.A.'s tallest tower to get observation deck
U.S. Bank Tower, as part of a series of improvements, will be getting an observation deck and restaurant at its top.
| Jul 22, 2014
Herzog & de Meuron unveil curvy concrete condo in Manhattan
Herzog & de Meuron have released renderings of their new $250 million New York building, a 12-story condominium with 88 luxury apartments.
| Jul 21, 2014
Narrowing the field: Stirling Prize shortlist announced
The list includes first-time nominees Mecanoo and Renzo Piano Building Workshop, as well as previous winners Zaha Hadid Architects and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.
| Jul 21, 2014
Designing the process of leadership transition
Transition planning can be one of the more complex challenges that firms face. Effective plans begin by determining the gap between a firm’s current state and the future it envisions for itself. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Jul 21, 2014
16 utility questions to answer during your building project
We need electricity to power our building projects, along with water and gas and a faultless sanitation system. That’s what we think about when we think about utility requirements for our building project, but are we missing something? SPONSORED CONTENT
| Jul 21, 2014
Commercial real estate development growing at strongest pace since recovery began: NAIOP report
Industrial, warehousing, office, and retail sectors see strong gains; Texas leads the nation in construction-value stats.
| Jul 21, 2014
Economists ponder uneven recovery, weigh benefits of big infrastructure [2014 Giants 300 Report]
According to expert forecasters, multifamily projects, the Panama Canal expansion, and the petroleum industry’s “shale gale” could be saving graces for commercial AEC firms seeking growth opportunities in an economy that’s provided its share of recent disappointments.