Mott MacDonald, the employee-owned engineering consultancy, has agreed to acquire Leed Engineering & Construction, a privately owned Australian civil contractor that works on projects in metropolitan, regional and remote areas of the country.
The deal is intended to allow the two companies to offer an integrated design and construction service, with a focus on the delivery and remediation of water infrastructure.
Leed, founded in 2001, employs more than 350 people across offices in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. The company works on water projects, dams, environmental schemes, roads, bridges and earthworks, alongside related engineering, planning and design. Its clients include SA Water, Coliban Water, Snowy Hydro and Future Generations, as well as state climate, environment and water departments.
In the UK, Mott MacDonald already operates a combined design and contracting business, Mott MacDonald Bentley, which employs close to 3,000 people and provides civil engineering services to the water sector. The Australian acquisition is intended to replicate that model.
Leed, founded in 2001, employs more than 350 people across offices in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales
Leed will continue to operate under its existing management structure. Craig Laslett, the company's managing director, will remain in post, along with the firm's engineers, project managers and construction staff. The business will draw on the design and build expertise of JN Bentley and Mott MacDonald.
Adrian Jones, Mott MacDonald's regional managing director for Asia Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, said there was significant demand for new and upgraded infrastructure across Australia, particularly in water, and that combining the two firms' capabilities would allow them to offer clients an integrated design and construction service.
Paul Bentley, managing director of JN Bentley, said Leed had built a reputation in Australia for delivering technically challenging projects and that its expertise aligned with the group's approach to delivery. He said the acquisition would strengthen Mott MacDonald's contracting offer, drawing on JN Bentley's 53-year construction history.
Laslett said Leed was joining the Mott MacDonald group at a time of significant investment in water and civil infrastructure in Australia, and that the combined business would support the delivery of complex water projects across the country.
