Two of the nonresidential building industry’s leading engineering firms have joined forces to leverage their similar sizes and market strategies.
KJWW Engineering, based in Rock Island, Ill., and TTG Engineers, based in Pasadena, Calif., will continue to operate under their own banners, but within a newly created holding company with common management.
Ranked 11th and 14th, respectively, on BD+C’s 2014 Engineering Giants list, the firms’ combined revenues last year would have elevated them to No. 4.
The merger unites two companies with a combined 860 employees working in 25 national and five international locations. “The merger gives TTG and KJWW a larger presence throughout the U.S. and strengthens our collective dominance in the healthcare, higher education, government, entertainment, industrial, and transportation markets,” said Zareh Astrouian, PE, SE, president of TTG. Paul VanDuyne, PE, KJWW’s president, added that the merger “allows us to build on those strengths with greater geographic mobility.”
In an interview with BD+C, VanDuyne—who will be CEO of the holding company, with Astrouian its chairman— said the two firms would spend the next 15 months integrating their operational infrastructure, such as accounting, IT, etc. Over that period, the companies will keep their engineering teams intact, while integrating similar practices. VanDuyne was quick to note that the merger is not a prelude to staff reductions. “Human capital is at such a premium right now, and we would be very happy to go through this process without losing a single person.”
VanDuyne believed this merger would allow both companies to serve national end-user clients more effectively. TTG should gain from KJWW’s strengths in such areas as medical equipment planning and architectural lighting, while KJWW should benefit from TTG’s expertise in the entertainment sector. “We feel this is a great opportunity to take a look at a brand new organization. That’s a little bit extraordinary for two $50 million companies,” he said.
The firms’ executives have been discussing this merger for about a year, said VanDuyne. “It started with a phone call about getting together. We met at [KJWW’s] offices in Chicago, and it went on from there.”
KJWW and TTG announced their merger less than a month after Thornton Tomasetti merged with Weidlinger Associates. While VanDuyne didn’t think these events necessarily presaged more consolidation among engineering companies, he did note that “scale” is becoming more important for firms to be relevant to clients in such areas as BIM and sustainability.
It hasn’t been determined whether the firms would eventually operate out of a single headquarters. That seems unlikely, at least in the near future, especially when Van Duyne said “I don’t think this is the last time you’re going to hear from us about expanding across the country.”
Related Stories
| Apr 10, 2013
6 funding sources for charter school construction
Competition for grants, loans, and bond financing among charter schools is heating up, so make your clients aware of these potential sources.
| Apr 10, 2013
23 things you need to know about charter schools
Charter schools are growing like Topsy. But don’t jump on board unless you know what you’re getting into.
| Apr 9, 2013
FMI predicts 8% rise in construction put in place for 2013
FMI, the largest provider of management consulting and investment banking services to the engineering and construction industry released today its Q1-2013 Construction Outlook. The forecast for total construction-put-in-place for 2013 continues to show an increase of 8% over 2012 levels.
| Apr 8, 2013
Most daylight harvesting schemes fall short of performance goals, says study
Analysis of daylighting control systems in 20 office and public spaces shows that while the automatic daylighting harvesting schemes are helping to reduce lighting energy, most are not achieving optimal performance, according to a new study by the Energy Center of Wisconsin.
| Apr 6, 2013
First look: GlaxoSmithKline's double LEED Platinum office
GlaxoSmithKline and Liberty Property Trust/Synterra Partners transform the work environment with the opening of Five Crescent Drive
| Apr 5, 2013
‘Retainage Laws in the 50 States’ manual from ASA available for subcontractors
A reference manual published by the American Subcontractors Association, Retainage Law in the 50 States, is available for construction subcontractors to understand retainage laws across the U.S.
| Apr 5, 2013
Bangkok gets a leaning tower, that may topple
A seven-story apartment tower under construction in Bangkok has started to tilt and is on the verge of toppling.
| Apr 5, 2013
Snøhetta design creates groundbreaking high-tech library for NCSU
The new Hunt Library at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, incorporates advanced building features, including a five-story robotic bookBot automatic retrieval system that holds 2 million volumes in reduced space.
