A London-based provider of engineering and project-management services has agreed to buy Alpharetta-based environmental-engineering firm MACTEC for $280 million in cash.
AMEC plc will use MACTEC’s network of customers and projects to augment its growing Earth & Environmental business in the U.S., the company said in a news release.
MACTEC, which has annual sales of $411 million and employs 2,600 people at 70 offices in the U.S., will be rolled into AMEC’s Earth & Environmental unit. The combined business will be based at the current MACTEC offices in Alpharetta, though the MACTEC name will be phased out almost immediately.
MACTEC President and CEO Ann Massey and the company’s existing management team are expected to stay on after the transition.
Instead of costing jobs, the acquisition should actually lead to new hires in metro Atlanta, said Lauren Gallagher, an AMEC spokeswoman.
“We’re a people business; it wouldn’t make any sense on our side if we acquired a firm and got rid of the people,” Ms. Gallagher said.
AMEC already has an office employing about 400 people in the Atlanta suburb of Tucker. That office includes the Earth & Environmental unit, which will move to the MACTEC offices in Alpharetta, as well as the company’s Power & Process unit.
The deal is expected to gain regulatory approval by the end of June.
The announcement came as Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal traveled on a European tour that included a stop in the United Kingdom.
