Since it was founded in 2010, N|V|5 Global, a publicly owned international engineering services provider based in Hollywood Fla., has acquired 25 companies, five of them in 2017 alone, including, most recently, Boston-based Richard D. Kimble Co., Inc. (RDK Engineers), a 120-year-old MEP engineering and design firm with 185 employees working out of five East Coast offices.
Speaking by phone from the Red Rock Resort in the Summerlin, Nev., master planned community, where N|V|5 Global was holding its annual shareholders meeting, Dickerson Wright, its Chairman and CEO, told BD+C that the addition of RDK Engineers “opens up the Northeast for us,” and strengthens N|V|5’s MEP practice.
Aside from the RDK deal, N|V|5’s acquisitions this year have included H&K, a $6 million geotechnical engineering firm in Northern California; Lochrane, a $6.5 million civil engineering firm in Orlando, Fla.; and Energenz, a $2 million international energy services company based in Irvine, Calif. Last October, NV5 bought JBA Consulting Engineers.
In its first quarter ended April 1, N|V|5’s revenue increased by 42.7% to $64.1 million, and net income grew by 10.4% to $2.27 million.
N|V|5 Global has been growing through acquisition since it launched eight years ago. It places a premium on keeping the employees of the companies it purchases in place, and making sure the acquisition is adding value to the firm. Image: N|V|5 Global
N|V|5 paid for its acquisition of RDK Engineers with a combination of cash and stock. Wright said that it’s typical for his company to pay 50% of a deal’s value in cash.
N|V|5 focuses on construction quality assurance, infrastructure, engineering and support services, energy, program management, and environmental solutions. Over the years, the firm has developed a process to determine whether another business would be a good fit through acquisition. Its criteria, explained Wright, revolve around added value, scalability, IT synchronicity, and single branding.
Perhaps most important, a business’s management has to be completely on board with the merger. Wright pointed out that there are 145,000 engineering firms in North America alone, most of which are private companies. This fragmentation has turned the engineering sector into a revolving door that has eroded any sense of loyalty and continuity between employer and employee.
As part of its acquisition strategy, N|V|R uses a carrot and stick approach to keep valued employees from walking out the door: It gets the managements of the companies it buys to sign employee agreements, in exchange for restricted NV5 stock they would receive after four years of service. Twenty-three of RDK’s managers signed that agreement.
“I am a big believer in partners and a big believer in shareholders; that’s why we’re public,” said Wright.
Christopher Cummings, PE, LEED AP, RDK’s CEO, said he believed that N|V|5 shared RDK’s “priority of providing innovative solutions to our clients through practical ingenuity, efficiency, and quality engineering in every project.”
Wright observed that a lot of mergers and acquisitions fail because too many companies get caught up in completing the deal without thinking through possible cultural collisions. “You’re crossing an emotional bridge [when two companies merge] and often times people aren’t listening to things that end up being problems,” such as allowing the acquired company to operate with the same autonomy or brand it had as an independent.
N|V|5, which has 2,300 employees and 102 offices, continues to look for companies that could be strategic fits. Wright said he sees “phenomenal opportunities” in Texas (where N|V|5 already has offices in Dallas and Austin). “But I don’t want to go in on a company without a solid foundation.”
He said his firm “loves” water-related projects, although he acknowledges that acquisition costs in that sector are high. N|V|5 is also interested in getting deeper into environmental projects, even though they have “a high barrier of entry,” said Wright.
N|V|5 operates four offices in Asia. But international expansion is less likely. “Only if our clients bring us there,” said Wright. For example, it just completed a liquefied natural gas processing plant in Angola for Bechtel Energy, for which N|V|5 provided quality control and energy services.
N|V|5 Global has provided MEP engineering services for a number of MGM-owned properties, including MGM Cotai in Macau. N|V|5's chairman, Dick Wright, said his company's international growth will be client driven. Image: N|V|5 Global
Related Stories
Sustainability | Nov 1, 2023
Researchers create building air leakage detection system using a camera in real time
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a system that uses a camera to detect air leakage from buildings in real time.
Adaptive Reuse | Nov 1, 2023
Biden Administration reveals plan to spur more office-to-residential conversions
The Biden Administration recently announced plans to encourage more office buildings to be converted to residential use. The plan includes using federal money to lend to developers for conversion projects and selling government property that is suitable for conversions.
Sustainability | Nov 1, 2023
Tool identifies financial incentives for decarbonizing heavy industry, transportation projects
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has released a tool to identify financial incentives to help developers, industrial companies, and investors find financial incentives for heavy industry and transport projects.
Contractors | Nov 1, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending increases for the 16th straight month, in September 2023
National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.3% in September, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.1 trillion.
Sponsored | MFPRO+ Course | Oct 30, 2023
For the Multifamily Sector, Product Innovations Boost Design and Construction Success
This course covers emerging trends in exterior design and products/systems selection in the low- and mid-rise market-rate and luxury multifamily rental market. Topics include facade design, cladding material trends, fenestration trends/innovations, indoor/outdoor connection, and rooftop spaces.
Giants 400 | Oct 30, 2023
Top 170 K-12 School Architecture Firms for 2023
PBK Architects, Huckabee, DLR Group, VLK Architects, and Stantec top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest K-12 school building architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 30, 2023
Top 100 K-12 School Construction Firms for 2023
CORE Construction, Gilbane, Balfour Beatty, Skanska USA, and Adolfson & Peterson top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest K-12 school building contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 30, 2023
Top 80 K-12 School Engineering Firms for 2023
AECOM, CMTA, Jacobs, WSP, and IMEG head BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest K-12 school building engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
MFPRO+ Special Reports | Oct 27, 2023
Download the 2023 Multifamily Annual Report
Welcome to Building Design+Construction and Multifamily Pro+’s first Multifamily Annual Report. This 76-page special report is our first-ever “state of the state” update on the $110 billion multifamily housing construction sector.
Giants 400 | Oct 23, 2023
Top 75 Multifamily Engineering Firms for 2023
Kimley-Horn, WSP, Tetra Tech, Olsson, and Langan head the ranking of the nation's largest multifamily housing sector engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking factors revenue for all multifamily buildings work, including apartments, condominiums, student housing facilities, and senior living facilities.