Dutch consulting engineer Arcadis has agreed a US$650m offer to buy Canadian multidisciplinary designer IBI Group.
The two firms made a joint announcement of the deal, by which Arcadis will buy IBI’s shares at a 30% premium.
The proposal is unanimously supported by IBI’s board of directors and its largest shareholder, the IBI Group Management Partnership.
Peter Oosterveer, Arcadis’ chief executive, said: “Together with IBI Group’s management team, we have big ambitions. Our shared vision to digitally transform our industries and provide clients with innovative technology-enabled solutions differentiates us from our peers.
“Today’s announcement will help accelerate this vision, leveraging Arcadis’ global platform and IBI Group’s strong track record by creating a strong fourth global business area of “Intelligence”, complementing the services and solutions we offer to clients through our three existing business areas, Resilience, Places, Mobility.”
Scott Stewart, the chief executive of IBI, added: “The combination of IBI Group and Arcadis will accelerate our ability to define the cities of tomorrow. Arcadis has a stellar reputation developing solutions for major societal issues from climate change to urbanisation.”
IBI Group was founded in Vancouver and Toronto in 1974 to provide professional services in urban development and transportation. It now has around 3,500 employees in more than 60 offices in Canada, the US, the UK, India and Hong Kong.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022.
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