News

WSP acquires RPS and issues strong Q2 results

11 August 2022

WSP has reached agreement with the board of RPS Group plc to acquire UK consulting firm RPS, while reporting rises in revenues, staff numbers and backlog.

Global engineering consultancy, WSP, has reached agreement with the board of RPS Group plc to acquire RPS, a UK-based consulting firm with 5,000 employees globally, generating approximately $875 million in revenue.

Founded in 1970 and built on a legacy of environmental and social engagement, RPS has been widely recognised for its strong sustainability agenda, having been ranked number one in the UK for climate change and energy consulting by the Environment Analysis for 2019/2020. It is also ranked as a top 200 environmental firm by Engineering News-Record was identified in 2021 as one of the first “carbon champions” by the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Alexandre L’Heureux, president and CEO WSP, commented: “RPS is a perfect fit as it adds depth to our current platform and is highly complementary, in terms of geographies and sectors, to our recently announced agreement to acquire the Environmental and Infrastructure (E&I) business of the John Wood Group plc.

“When completed, our recently announced transactions will bring our workforce to approximately 70,000, with approximately 23,000 environmental experts across the globe.”

The news came as WSP issued positive results for the first half of the year, with strong organic net revenue growth, record-high level of backlog and significant increase in the number of employees.

Revenues and net revenues rose to $2.8bn and $2.1bn respectively, (up 5.0% and 4.0% on Q2 2021). Net revenue organic growth of 5.0% in the quarter is attributable to all reportable segments, led by the UK with double-digit growth, Canada and Australia.

WSP’s backlog as at July 2, 2022 stood at $11.4bn, representing 12.5 months of revenues, while the number of employees has increased by approximately 2,200 since the beginning of 2022.

L’Heureux said: “I am pleased with our second-quarter results and our performance for the first half of the year. Our backlog continues to grow significantly and stands at a record-high level, which is in turn fuelling our organic growth across all regions. With 2,200 additional professionals since the beginning of the year, we are in a great position to deliver on our clients’ projects.”