3i-backed SLR Management, the international environmental consultancy, has acquired GSS Environmental, an Australian provider of environmental consulting and project management services to clients in the mining, minerals, land development and natural resource sectors.
GSS Environmental is a top three environmental consultant to the coal extraction industry in Australia, having advised on approximately 60 per cent of Australia’s coal mines, which counts BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata amongst its clients. With turnover for the period ended 30 June 2012 of GBP5m, it has 50 employees operating from offices in Newcastle, in New South Wales, and Mackay, in central Queensland.
The acquisition represents a further milestone in the group’s stated strategy of augmenting organic growth by the selective acquisition of high calibre companies to strengthen and extend its technical and geographic coverage.
Once merged with SLR’s existing Australian operations, the combined business will have 225 employees providing specialist environmental services to the energy, mining, industrial, waste management, infrastructure and planning and development sectors.
David Richards, chief executive of SLR, says: “Having recently raised additional finance enabling the group to deliver acquisitions with a total enterprise value of GBP50m, I am delighted to announce the acquisition of GSS Environmental. In line with our strategy to target high-quality consulting firms in growth regions and market sectors, this acquisition will further extend our geographic footprint and strengthen the group’s expertise in mining planning and approvals, environmental management and upstream oil and gas sectors in Australia and Asia Pacific.
“Following the recent acquisition of Metago, a leading environmental consultancy in South Africa and Western Australia, and with further potential acquisitions in the pipeline, the group’s strong presence across Australia, Canada, Southern Africa, the US and the UK and its expanding technical expertise provide a strong platform for accelerated growth in 2013.”
3i’s David Whileman says: "SLR continues to outperform the market and our view that we are backing the best team in the sector has only increased with time. GSS Environmental’s world-class technical skills and high calibre team are a great fit with SLR, both in Australia and globally, and we’re delighted to further support SLR in this acquisition. We have been happy to help SLR identify this excellent opportunity and will continue to work closely with the combined team, using our international network and M&A experience to help SLR achieve its ambitious expansion plans."
