£100m turnover environmental company acquires rival
CHESHIRE-based environmental, health, safety and engineering services company RSK Group has acquired Midlands-based rival ADAS for at least £10m.
The deal by £100m-turnover RSK was backed by the Business Growth Fund, which is also supporting the company’s longer-term growth plans.
Working with clients such as Shell, Taylor Wimpey, and HS2 Limited, RSK provides environmental impact assessments, clean-up operations and geotechnical analyses on major infrastructure projects in the UK and worldwide.
The company is currently working on the Mersey Gateway Project.
Founded in 1989 by chief executive officer Dr Alan Ryder, RSK is now the biggest private environmental consultancy in the UK, with a turnover of more than £100m and around 1,500 staff worldwide.
RSK’s acquisition of ADAS UK Ltd will add new services to its portfolio, including expertise in land management, crop and food production, specialist chemical risk assessment and town planning.
Ryder said: “The company has extremely experienced and skilled people who share our common values. RSK and ADAS see food production, energy and the environment as the most important issues facing humanity, so we will work together to deliver the best solutions for our customers.
“BGF’s ethos of backing growing British businesses and their ability to provide long-term support were good fits for RSK. Their funding helped us to move forward with this acquisition in a relatively short timeframe, and we are delighted to be joining the businesses headquartered in the North West that have already received their backing.”
BGF investor Neil Inskip added: “BGF exists to help ambitious businesses move forward with their growth plans. RSK is a business of significant scale, built on a collection of niche expertise, and with clear ambitions for the future of the company.
“The funding also demonstrates BGF’s appetite to continue supporting local companies with global operations and aspirations.”
RSK Group advisers were DSW Transaction Services LLP (due diligence); DSW Corporate Finance (corporate finance); and Memery Crystal (legal).
Squire Patton Boggs advised BGF.
