Australian acquisition for engineering group

Engineering group Ricardo is to acquire an environment, planning and infrastructure advisory consultancy headquartered in Melbourne, Australia in a deal worth more than £5m.

Ricardo, which has a large testing centre operation in Leamington Spa, has signed a share purchase deed to acquire the entire share capital of PLC Consulting.

The total maximum consideration is £5.36m which will be paid in cash, with part paid in instalments over three years, subject to the achievement of agreed financial targets and retention of key management.

The acquisition is expected to be completed on 31 July 2019.

Founder and director of PLC Consulting Deane Ellwood will continue to lead the business together with the company’s 21 employees. From the date of completion, the company will operate as part of Ricardo’s Energy & Environment business.

Dave Shemmans, chief executive of Ricardo,, said: “I am delighted to be able to announce the signing of the share purchase deed with PLC Consulting and look forward to welcoming Deane Ellwood and his team into Ricardo.

“I am passionate about the work our energy and environment experts deliver in helping to mitigate the worsening impacts of climate change, the reduction of waste and the conservation of the world’s scarce resources. This exciting acquisition will also help Ricardo to continue to grow our environmental services in Australia.”

Ricardo is a global engineering, technical, environmental and strategic consultancy business, which also manufactures and assembles niche, high-quality and high-performance products.

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