Environmental firm expands with two international acquisitions

Newcastle environmental company, SLR Consultancy has made two international acquisitions taking on companies from South Africa and California.

Independent firm, SLR, which has an office in Newcastle, is continuing to expand following a strong year in which they reported an 11 per cent increase in revenues to £92.8m.

In order to further increase their international capabilities in the energy and mining sectors SLR have acquired California-based Strategic Engineering & Sciences (SES) and Johannesburg company, Synergistics Environmental Services Limited (Synergistics).

SES, is a provider of consultancy services in mine waste and water resource management. It also specialises in site restoration and geotechnical engineering to clients in the mining, waste, industry, planning and development sectors.

The company, based in Irvine and Oakland, California employs 22 consultants and is currently involved in projects in the US, Canada, Mexico and South America with revenues of more than £3m. .

Synergistics is a top twenty South African environmental consultancy with a client base including Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Exxaro Resources and waste management operator, EnviroServ.

SES also has extensive expertise in coal and iron ore development as well as in social impact, adding to SLR’s capabilities in Africa.

SLR has already secured a number of global master service contracts and work on major international projects and enjoys 57% of revenue from clients of more than five years standing.

For the second successive year, SLR Consulting, which provides specialist advice and support on a wide range of strategic and site-specific issues; also reported record EBITA (earnings before interest, tax and amortisation), up to £9.4m – with more new business secured in the UK and across Europe than ever before.

2013 has also seen SLR implement a recruitment drive in the UK as part of its strategy to attract additional industry experts to support its expansion plans.

David Richards, Chief Executive of SLR, said: “These international acquisitions represent further milestones in our approach to augment strong organic growth with the selective acquisition of complimentary companies to extend our technical and geographic coverage.

“With additional acquisition finance secured in 2012, we will continue to consider other selective acquisition opportunities, particularly in North America.

“Over the last year we have strengthened our offering, both geographically and in terms of core skills, to affirm our position as a top five specialist international environmental consultancy, with particular strength in natural resources.”