WSP Group has acquired Lincolne Scott, one of Australia's leading building services and environmental engineering consultants.

Lincolne Scott has over 440 staff in 11 offices across Australia and the Asia Pacific. Chris Cole, WSP Group CEO said: "With the inexorable move towards a low-carbon market, Lincolne Scott's world-leading expertise will significantly increase our capacity to deliver successful projects incorporating commercially affordable, environmentally responsible solutions".

In addition to being the engineers behind Australia's first 6-Star and 5-Star Green Star buildings, Lincolne Scott was involved in the design of Melbourne's Southern Cross Station development, which has just been awarded the RIBA's Lubetkin Prize.

The deal will include an initial payment of £9.8m, comprising £6.6m in cash and £3.2m in new WSP shares. A further £2.0m will be paid in three equal instalments on the first, second and third anniversary of completion.

The acquisition comes after a healthy profit rise for WSP in 2006. Preliminary results for the year ending 31 December showed pre-tax profits up 33% to £30.7 million.

Source

Building Sustainable Design