Weekly merger, acquisition, deal update: October 5

This week Morrissey Goodale tracked tracked five domestic deals and one international transaction. This brings the total year-to-date deal count in the United States to 134, up just 2% over the 131 domestic deals tracked through the same period in 2011. Including the U.S., the total global deal count is now 244, down 5% to the 258 global deals tracked through the same period last year.

Source: Morrissey Goodale

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This week Morrissey Goodale tracked tracked five domestic deals and one international transaction. This brings the total year-to-date deal count in the United States to 134, up just 2% over the 131 domestic deals tracked through the same period in 2011. Including the U.S., the total global deal count is now 244, down 5% to the 258 global deals tracked through the same period last year.

M&A Transactions

10/1/2012

Leading multi-discipline engineering and environmental services firm Alfred Benesch & Company (Benesch) (Chicago, IL) merged with civil, structural, and transportation engineering firm Purcell Associates (Glastonbury, CT). Morrissey Goodale LLC initiated the transaction on behalf of Purcell Associates and advised throughout the process. Through the transaction, Benesch facilitates its expansion into the northeastern United States by adding two offices in CT and MA and strengthens its core transportation services. Combined, the firm is able to provide expanded services to clients and draw from a network of over 475 engineers, environmental scientists and other professionals from offices in Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Washington D.C. Wally Ivers, President of Purcell says, "This is a very exciting move for Purcell. Merging with Benesch provides great opportunity to pursue more complex projects here in the northeastern United States, while maintaining our firm culture that has been built on decades of tradition. We look forward to what the future holds for Benesch." Per John Carrato, President and CEO of Benesch, "Purcell has built a strong practice over the last 50 years. Their dedication to technical excellence and client satisfaction has earned them a great reputation in the area. We're very excited to move forward as a combined firm." Following the merger, Purcell was integrated into Benesch's existing Mid-Atlantic region. Link to details

10/1/2012

Engineering, architectural consulting and design firm STV (New York, NY) acquired architecture, planning and interior design firm ARCHITECTURE/vbn (VBN) (Oakland, CA). VBN is a recognized leader in public facility planning, featuring a portfolio in the education, transportation, government and commercial markets. VBN's work includes both large- and small-scale projects including intermodal terminals, bus facilities, light rail, rail stations, transit centers, community colleges and public and private universities. Link to details

10/3/2012

Environmental, natural resources and civil infrastructure consulting and engineering firm Geosyntec (Atlanta, GA) acquired EnviroGroup (Denver, CO), a 21-person environmental science and engineering consulting firm to the industrial, natural resource, commercial, legal, and regulatory markets. From its offices in Colorado, Illinois and New York, EnviroGroup specializes in the provision of vapor intrusion evaluation and mitigation, environmental forensics and litigation support, environmental management systems and regulatory compliance management. Effective October 1, the firm will operate as EnviroGroup, a Geosyntec Company. Link to details

9/28/2012

Leading provider of engineering services and information technology Universal Technical Resource Services (UTRS) (Cherry Hill, NJ) announced the acquisition of civil and environmental engineering, planning, landscape architecture and surveying firm RKR Hess Associates (RKR) (East Stroudsburg, PA). The acquisition of RKR's expertise in civil and environmental engineering positions UTRS as a full-service provider of engineering services and adds a new skillset to its existing engineering and technical professionals. UTRS provides a wide range of leading-edge scientific, engineering, management and computer services to both the public and private sectors, including the U.S. Department of Defense. Link to details

10/2/2012

Global engineering and construction company M+W Group (Stuttgart, Germany) acquired Spectrum Engineering Solutions (SES) (Warren, MI), a full-service supplier of industrial automation controls engineering and integration services. M+W Group is a leading global engineering, construction and project management company operating in the fields of advanced technology facilities, life sciences and chemicals, energy and environmental technologies and high tech infrastructure. M+W specializes in being a partner to leading companies in the fields of electronics, photovoltaics, battery cells, life sciences, chemicals, science and research, energy and environmental technologies, automotive, IT and telecoms, security and communication, as well as research institutes and universities. As a leader in the automation industry for automotive manufacturing, SES will become the automotive business unit for M+W Automation in America. The intention of the transaction is to pair the experience of SES with the core competencies of the M+W Group in facility design and construction to provide a single point of services for the industry's global needs. Link to details

9/24/2012

International construction, infrastructure and environmental engineering and project management consultancy The Artelia Group (Lyon, France) acquired Copramex (Marseille, France), an environmental engineering firm specializing in the environmental monitoring of water, soils and sediments. The acquisition serves to bolster Artelia's service offerings and geographic coverage, especially related to aquatic environments and along the Mediterranean coast. Link to details