Dive Brief:
- Design conglomerate Stantec has acquired Markham, Ontario-based Morrison Hershfield, the company announced on Jan. 9. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
- Stantec, which was ranked eighth on Engineering News Record’s Top 500 Design Firms list of 2023, nabbed No. 148 Morrison Hershfield in an effort to boost its presence in Canadian markets, per the release. As a result, Edmonton-based Stantec, which has more than half of its offices in the U.S., will grow its Canadian workforce by 10%.
- Stantec said in the release that Morrison Hershfield is one of the only Canadian-based engineering firms with core strengths, business lines and clients that will add to its presence in multiple key growth markets, including the Greater Toronto area, one of Canada’s largest property markets.
Dive Insight:
The design firm highlighted two of Morrison Hershfield’s business areas in the announcement — its Horizontal Infrastructure and Environmental Services segments.
Stantec said the former would double Stantec’s transportation presence in Ontario, while the latter would bolster its capacity to support infrastructure projects in key Canadian markets like Toronto, Vancouver, British Columbia and in Canada’s North by combining both companies’ offices in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Along with those segments, Morrison Hershfield gives Stantec capacity with data center and mission critical market space, per the release, which it said complements its acquisition of Environmental Systems Design from last June.
“This acquisition provides us with access to many high-profile North American and global projects and markets in the communities where our employees live and work,” said Anthony Karakatsanis, Morrison Hershfield’s CEO.
Projects that Morrison Hershfield has worked on include:
- The Gardiner Expressway East from Cherry Street to the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto. The firm is providing engineering services on the project.
- The Confederation and Trillium lines of Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit system. Morrison Hershfield provided services for preliminary engineering and procurement, as well as implementation and construction phases. The project involves the construction of 27 miles of new light rail running way, as well as 24 stations.
- The Microsoft Redmond Campus Renovation in Redmond, Washington, which will build 19 new buildings across four villages, a 6,500-car parking garage, a visitor center and a Central Utility Plant. The company’s services include building envelope consulting and commissioning, façade engineering, energy modeling and field performance testing.
The deal, which is subject to shareholder approval, court procedures and regulatory stamps, is expected to close this quarter.