North American design firm Stantec has signed a letter of intent to acquire SHW Group. SHW’s education planning, design, and engineering capabilities will reinforce Stantec’s existing education expertise in their pursuit of top-tier positioning in this sector.
“Having SHW join Stantec bolsters our emerging presence in Texas and Michigan,” says Stantec president and CEO Bob Gomes, “and will also help diversify Stantec’s buildings practice by growing our education sector in an expanding US market.”
Founded in 1945, SHW is a nearly 300-person firm providing architectural, interior design, planning, and engineering services to higher education and K-12 clients. In addition to four offices in Texas, SHW has four offices in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states.
The firm’s clients include premier U.S. colleges and universities like Texas A&M, University of Texas, Michigan State, and The University of Michigan, as well as The University of Virginia and Villanova University.  SHW also has an expansive K-12 portfolio, having completed major building programs for numerous school districts in Texas, Michigan, Virginia and Maryland.  SHW is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top 10 education design firms, including #1 in Texas by Engineering News Record, and #2 in the US K-12 market by Building Design & Construction’s 2013 Giants 300 Report.
The acquisition is expected to be final in May 2014.
“Joining Stantec gives us a greater opportunity to bring additional resources, expertise and services to our clients,” says Marjorie Simmons, chief executive officer at SHW. “Joining the Stantec team will accelerate our ability to be a globally-recognized education facility planning and design expert, while offering our staff tremendous growth opportunities.”
In addition, Stantec will grow its presence in the Alaskan and Pacific Northwest markets by acquiring USKH Inc.. Headquartered in Anchorage, AK, USKH is a 130-person multidiscipline design firm founded in 1972, with offices in Alaska, Washington and Montana, including Fairbanks, Juneau, Wasilla, Spokane, Walla Walla, Ferndale and Billings. This transaction is expected to close in June.
“USKH provides us the opportunity to strengthen our ever growing presence in North America while serving new markets in a growing region,” said Bob Gomes, Stantec president and chief executive officer.  “USKH’s strong presence in Alaska will complement our dominant presence in the Canadian North, and enable us to offer our US and Canadian clients a comprehensive suite of services over the entire emerging resource-rich northern areas of North America.”
Serving a diverse base of public and private clients, USKH provides fully-integrated architectural, landscape architecture, engineering, environmental, planning, and surveying services. Among the firm’s community-driven design projects are the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge in Alaska’s Denali National Park, the Eielson AFB Fitness Center, and the City of Plummer Wastewater Treatment Plant in Idaho. USKH’s regional clients include the State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Municipality of Anchorage, Pangborn Memorial Airport, City of Kodiak, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Kenai Peninsula Borough, and Fairbanks Gold Mining, Inc., among many others.
“We’ve worked hard to create an inspiring workplace for our people and deliver exceptional projects for our clients by offering a strong suite of services. Joining Stantec will allow our team members to expand their professional experiences by working with a broader team, while bringing additional expertise to serve existing clients and develop new opportunities,” says Tim Vig, USKH president and chief executive officer.
Stantec currently has nearly 6,000 employees working across 140 offices in the United States. The acquisition of USKH, combined with Stantec’s intended acquisition of Dallas, Texas-based SHW Group, announced yesterday, represents the addition of more than 400 people to the firm’s US operations.
About Stantec
The Stantec community unites more than 13,000 employees working in over 200 locations. We collaborate across disciplines and industries to bring buildings, energy and resource, and infrastructure projects to life. Our work—professional consulting in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics—begins at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. For more information, visit www.stantec.com.
