Hill International launches UK acquisition drive

US consultancy firm Hill International has ambitious plans to expand in the UK by buying a QS or project management firm.

The £55m-turnover firm, which also operates in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, is actively seeking acquisitions as part of its drive to expand both into the UK and further into mainland Europe.

Speaking to QS News, Hill chairman and chief executive Irvin Richter, who founded the firm in 1976, said: “We are in the process of identifying companies that will best fit. I expect a deal to be done in the next year.

“We want to combine the relationships, people and local presence of a firm with our international presence. It will be a case of one plus one making three.”

Richter said the firm would “definitely” have to acquire to gain a QS-presence in the UK. He said: “It’s essential to the management process in the UK.”

The firm established a claims consultancy business in London six years ago and began its foray into project management at the start of this year.

Hill hired ex-MPM Capita regional director Eric Butterworth to head up UK project management and David Kyte, previously of Turner & Townsend, as head of UK claims. The firm has already won four project management commissions.

The overall London division is headed by senior vice-president Renny Borhan, who was appointed to the role late last month. He also oversees the firm’s Middle-Eastern operation.

Irvin Richter said the firm specialised in “turning troubled projects around”. He said: “Our experience in claims leads us to this. We are often brought in as a second team.”

We are in the process of identifying companies that will best fit. I expect a deal to be done in the next year

Irvin Richter, CEO, Hill International

Richter said he expected Hill International, which has 20 offices, to grow by tenfold – to over the £500m mark – in “no more than ten years”. The firm, which has a workforce of 600, has plans to take the company public, most likely in the US, having grown the business by 20% each year this decade.

David Richter, president and chief operating officer, said the company wanted to bring together project management QS-ing and claims consultancy under one roof. He said: “It’s something few other firms can offer.”

The company said it was also planning to establish a presence in China in the next two years. It has already set up a joint venture project management firm in Korea called Yeil Hill.

Irvin Richter said that prospects in the Middle East still remained good, especially in regions such as Abu Dhabi. The firm was this month appointed for the tallest skyscraper in Qatar, the 80-storey Dubai storey which is due for completion in 2007 (pictured left).

Hill International is also playing a key role in the rebuilding of Iraq. It has been part of a joint venture firm acting as construction managers for the US Corp of Engineers, which has a total workload of $18bn.

Richter said resourcing its Iraq operations had not been too difficult. He said: “We are not having any problems staffing it with the exception of programmers and planners.”

In America, the firm recently won a project management role for a new 57-storey sky-scraper in Philadelphia called the Concast Center.