Shearwater Regulatory News (SWG)

17 Oct 2006 07:02

Scott Wilson Group plc17 October 2006 For immediate release 17 October 2006 Scott Wilson Group plc Acquisition - 17 October 2006 Scott Wilson Group plc ("Scott Wilson"), the international consultancy offeringintegrated professional services in the transportation, property, environmentaland natural resources sectors, today announces that it has reached a conditionalagreement to acquire the business and assets of Ferguson McIlveen LLP for aconsideration of £10.1m. The acquisition is expected to be completed on 1November 2006. Ferguson McIlveen LLP is a leading consultancy in Northern Ireland, which isheadquartered in Belfast, with offices in the Republic of Ireland, Glasgow,Chester, Guildford, Leeds, Middlesborough, and Swansea, employing 250 people. Itprovides design consultancy services for the property, environment andinfrastructure sectors and its specialist disciplines include Architecture,Water Engineering and Urban Design. Recent notable projects include Lagan Weir,the redevelopment of Belfast Cancer Centre, upgrade of Northern Ireland's NorthCoast Wastewater Scheme, and Dublin's Beacon South Quarter development. The initial consideration payable on completion is £3m in cash and £1.85m inScott Wilson Group plc ordinary shares. In addition, there is deferredconsideration of £5.25m in total of which £4.07m is payable in cash and £1.18mby the issue of Scott Wilson Group plc shares. In addition, Scott Wilson hasagreed to become the principal employer of the final salary pension scheme ofFerguson McIlveen LLP, which in October 2006 had an estimated net deficit of£1.8m, as calculated by Scott Wilson's actuaries. Ferguson McIlveen LLP 's revenue for the year-ended 31st March 2006 was £14.5m,operating profit was £2.8m before Partners remuneration and net assets,excluding pension deficit, at the year-end were £1.3m. In its current financialyear to date, Ferguson McIlveen LLP has continued to make good progress. The acquisition of Ferguson McIlveen LLP represents an important step in ScottWilson strategy to pursue selective acquisitions, which present opportunitiesfor growth in our core sectors or target geographical markets, with Irelandhaving been a key target market identified at the time of Scott Wilson'sflotation. Geoff French, Chairman of Scott Wilson commented: "I am delighted that we have acquired Ferguson McIlveen LLP, which willsignificantly strengthen our presence in North and South Ireland and will enableus to take full advantage of the growing markets there, particularly in theenvironment and property sectors. "Ferguson McIlveen LLP is already a substantial and successful business and,having worked together for a number of years, we expect it to benefit furtherfrom being part of the Scott Wilson Group." Ends For further information please contact: Scott Wilson Group plc www.scottwilson.comGeoff French, Chairman 01256 310200Stephen Kimmett, Finance DirectorSmithfield 020 7360 4900Katie Hunt Print resolution images are available for the media to view and download from www.vismedia.co.uk Notes to Editors: Scott Wilson is a leading international consultancy offering integrated servicesfor civil and structural engineering projects, transportation, environmentalstudies and institutional development. It was ranked as the ninth largestUK-owned engineering consultant by fee income for the calendar year 2005 in theNew Civil Engineer 2006 annual Survey. The Group earned approximately 67 per cent of its revenue over the three yearsto 30 April 2006 in the UK and approximately 33 per cent overseas. The Group hasan existing network of international offices controlled through six regionalcentres in Warsaw, Johannesburg, Dubai, Delhi, Bangkok and Shanghai/Hong Kong. Scott Wilson has strong relationships with national governments,non-governmental agencies, multinational companies and supranational fundingbodies. In the financial year ended 30 April 2006, 30 of the Company's clientswere billed over £1 million and the top 50 of the Group's clients accounted foraggregate fees of some £100 million. Important clients and partners include Network Rail, the Highways Agency,Balfour Beatty, Alfred McAlpine, Cross London Rail Links, English Partnerships,Defence Estates, tie (transport initiatives Edinburgh), Southern Water, EnglishPartnerships, Costain, London Underground and the Roads Service NorthernIreland. Notable projects on which Scott Wilson has worked in the last year includeLondon Crossrail, Bangkok Airport, Manchester Airport, Spinnaker Tower, the UKWest Coast Rail Route Modernisation, AsiaWorld Expo, Victoria Station andEdinburgh Tram. **** This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange