EBI News for February 08, 2023 – Research prepares water utilities for wildfires
EBI News for February 08, 2023 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, Research prepares water utilities for wildfires, acquisitions, and more!
SWCA acquires Terra Verde Environmental
SWCA Environmental Consultants (Phoenix, Ariz.) has acquired Terra Verde Environmental Consulting (San Luis Obispo, Calif.), an environmental consulting firm that serves the energy, utility, and government sectors. Founded in 2007, Terra Verde helps clients to plan, permit, and ensure compliance of their projects. Expertise includes biological surveys and monitoring, ecological scent-detection dogs, habitat restoration, and environmental training, permitting, and compliance. The addition of Terra Verde grows SWCA’s presence and natural resources services in central California and the surrounding region. SWCA is a nationwide consulting firm focused on environmental planning, permitting and compliance, climate services, and restoration.
Atlas Technical Consultants gets new owner
Atlas Technical Consultants Inc. (Austin, Texas) announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by GI Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.05 billion, including outstanding debt. Upon completion, Atlas will become a private company. “Since founding Atlas in 2017, we have built one of the largest pure-play professional and technical services businesses, serving infrastructure and environmental markets in the United States,” said L. Joe Boyer, Atlas’ chief executive officer. “This transaction recognizes the value our team has created over the last five years.” Atlas has more than 3,500 employees nationwide operating in four primary disciplines: Environmental; Testing, Inspection and Certification; Engineering and Design; and Program, Construction, and Quality management. Atlas reported gross revenue grew 17% to $162.1 million in its third quarter 2022, including 10% organic growth.
Research prepares water utilities for wildfires
A team of utilities, academia, and consultants is developing a study and guidance to make water treatment more resilient to forest fires. Wildfires can cause costly, long-term problems related to filtration, disinfection, elevation of disinfection by-product formation, and increased bioavailable phosphorus leading to cyanobacterial and algal blooms. Brown and Caldwell, Portland Water Bureau (PWB) and the University of Waterloo are participating in the research, which is funded by PWB and the Water Research Foundation. PWB is designing a new green-field 135-mgd water filtration facility. The study will inform how to prioritize treatment changes due to wildfires and other events. Ash from several past Northwest fires will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of different treatment strategies.
AECOM reports first quarter fiscal 2023 results
AECOM (Dallas) reported revenue increased 4% to $3.4 billion in its first quarter of fiscal year 2023, while organic net service revenue (NSR) growth accelerated to 8% and included 9% growth in the design business, which was driven by accelerating growth in the Americas and continued strong growth in international markets. Design backlog increased by 9% to a record high and nearly record win rate. The company reported that its pipeline of opportunities expanded even faster than backlog and NSR, including nearly 30% growth in proposals and submitted bids, up from 20% growth in the prior quarter. “Our competitive advantage is widening as we realize a strong return on our investments in our teams and in pursuing the highest value organic growth opportunities,” said Lara Poloni, AECOM’s president.
Contractors appointed for £480M sustainable energy plant
Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant Ltd (LSEP) in the UK has appointed Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kansas) as the engineering, procurement and construction management contractor to help deliver its energy-from-waste facility. Babcock & Wilcox will support delivery of the power train, which is the heart of the energy generation and environmental performance of the plant. The appointments follow the insolvency of CNIM, previously the main contractor for the plant, which is expected to be operational by 2025 when it will generate enough sustainable energy to power around 125,000 homes.
Tetra Tech reports record first quarter results
Tetra Tech (Pasadena, Calif.) announced record high quarterly results in net revenue, operating margin, EPS and backlog for the first quarter ended January 1, 2023. Revenue in the first quarter rose 4% year-over-year to $895 million, and net revenue was up 8% to $737 million. According to Tetra Tech Chairman and CEO Dan Batrack, on a YOY basis, the company saw double-digit top line growth across both its government and commercial end markets. New orders approached $1 billion in the quarter contributing to an all-time high backlog of $3.81 billion. Tetra Tech closed the RPS Group transaction at the end of January, adding 5,000 staff and expanding its position in the U.K., Europe and Australia.
Weston Solutions awarded $50M USACE remediation contract
Weston Solutions, Inc. (West Chester, Pa.) announced a prime contract award for environmental remediation in support of USACE Albuquerque District, Southern Pacific Division with a capacity of $50 million over a 3-year base period with a 2-year option period. The Multiple Environmental Government Acquisition (MEGA) Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) will include a wide range of environmental services at Military Munitions Response Program sites and hazardous, toxic, and radioactive waste sites. Weston’s team includes several small and disadvantaged business partners, including Espinoza Consulting Services, BRIC LLC, Pioneer Technical Services, Cape Environmental, GSI, Federal Contracting Corp., and MECx.
GZA GeoEnvironmental acquires Equity Environmental
Equity Environmental Engineering LLC (Fairfield, N.J.) is now a division of GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. (Norwood, Mass.), a multi-disciplinary firm providing geotechnical, environmental, water, ecological, and construction management services. Equity Environmental provides integrated planning and environmental consulting services throughout metropolitan New York and the Mid-Atlantic. “Equity’s strong capabilities are a natural extension of the five core services currently offered by GZA… and will help GZA expand and deepen our ability to serve clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic,’’ said President and CEO Patrick Sheehan. GZA’s more than 700 professionals are based in 30 offices in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes States and Colorado.
Morgan Stanley Capital Partners acquires Apex
Morgan Stanley Capital Partners (MSCP) has acquired Apex Companies (Rockville, Md.), an environmental consulting and engineering firm, from Sentinel Capital Partners. MSCP is partnering with the current management team led by CEO Dave Fabianski who will continue to lead the business. Sentinel Capital will maintain a minority position. Known for stormwater compliance and environmental services, Apex also offers services in water infrastructure and resources, compliance and assurance (including ESG consulting), health and safety, transportation, and civil engineering. The acquisition represents MSCP’s second investment in environmental services following the acquisition of Alliance Technical Group in 2021.
Copley Equity invests in Triton Environmental
2020 Environmental Group announced that Copley Equity Partners LLC has invested in Triton Environmental Consultants Ltd. (Vancouver, B.C.), an environmental consulting firm serving major infrastructure projects throughout Canada. Existing Triton shareholders have retained significant ownership and will continue to lead the company. Founded in 1989, Triton has a particular focus on fisheries and wildlife services. The company has over 500 employees and offices in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia. “We believe a partnership with Copley will set Triton up for continued growth across Canada and expansion into the United States, solidifying Triton’s leadership as an independent environmental consulting service provider,” said Triton’s CEO Jason Harris. 2020 initiated the transaction and served as M&A advisor to Triton.
Xylem to acquire Evoqua in $7.5B transaction
Global water technology company Xylem Inc. (Washington, D.C.) announced it is acquiring water treatment solutions and services provider Evoqua (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in an all-stock transaction reflecting an enterprise value of approximately $7.5 billion. Upon closing, Xylem shareholders will own approximately 75% and Evoqua shareholders 25% of the combined company. Xylem and Evoqua generated over $7 billion in combined revenue in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2022. The combination is expected to deliver run-rate cost synergies of $140 million within three years. Evoqua’s advanced water and wastewater treatment capabilities are focused on water treatment systems for customers in high-growth sectors such as life sciences, microelectronics, power and food and beverage. Evoqua is also involved in the PFAS market.
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