Canadian investor buys stake in G&T

A Canadian private investor has taken a stake in Gardiner & Theobald, the consultant announced this afternoon (Tuesday).

G&T said it had completed a “long-term strategic partnership” with Toronto-based finance firm Hennick & Company.

Hennick is already well known to UK consultants having become Foster & Partners’ largest shareholder three years ago when it bought a stake in the country’s biggest architect.

G&T, whose origins date back to 1835, declined to say whether Hennick now owned a majority stake in its business but a spokesperson told Building the deal “was a partnership not a buyout”.

Nonetheless, the move continues a trend in recent years which has seen overseas firms and investors, notably those from North America, pick off UK consultants either by buying them outright or taking significant shareholdings in them.

Among those to have been snapped up in recent years by US businesses are Turner & Townsend, now majority owned by CBRE, while WYG and Hoare Lea have both been bought outright by Tetra Tech.

In May, Canadian engineer Stantec bought Hydrock while in the same month French firm Egis, which already owned architect Weston Williamson, bought Scottish QS Thomas & Adamson for an undisclosed sum.

In a joint statement, G&T and Hennick said the move will “preserve G&T’s independence, brand and heritage while positioning the firm for continued growth”, citing expansion in the UK, US and Ireland.

It said G&T, which had an income of £292m in the year to April, would continue as a limited liability partnership with partners and staff remaining in their current roles.

As part of the transaction, the two organisations have agreed a “clear process” by which G&T, which employs 1,400 staff, “will expand its current ownership base over time”.

G&T said its senior leadership team will also remain in place, including managing partner Adam Glover who said the deal had been in the works for several months.

He added: “We are delighted to welcome HennickCo as a long-term investor and well aligned strategic partner.

“This provides G&T with an even stronger platform and significant financial strength to grow our business. Our equity partners were unanimous in their support for the new partnership.”

Hennick & Co’s managing director Bradley Hennick called its move a “transformational move [which will] strengthen [G&T’s] market leading project management, cost management and infrastructure management platforms and position it for further growth and expansion”.

As well as investments in G&T and Fosters, Hennick also has several stakes in developments in North America including hotels and office schemes in Toronto and a retail scheme over the border in New York.