International Acquisitions Follow Strong Growth for SLR Consulting 

Independent environmental firm, SLR Consulting (UK), has announced two international acquisitions; California-based Strategic Engineering & Sciences (SES) and Johannesburg company, Synergistics Environmental Services Limited (Synergistics). The move follows another strong year for SLR, which reported an 11 per cent increase in revenues to £92.8m (year ending October 2012).

The acquisitions further extend SLR’s international capabilities in the energy and mining sectors, where the company has secured a number of global master service contracts and work on major international projects.

SES, which employs 22 consultants in Irvine and Oakland, California, is a leading provider of consultancy services in mine waste and water resource management, site restoration and geotechnical engineering to clients in the mining, waste, industry, planning and development sectors. With revenues in excess of £3m, SES is currently involved in projects in US, Canada, Mexico and South America.

Synergistics is a top twenty South African environmental consultancy with a client base including Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Exxaro Resources and waste management operator, EnviroServ. It is SLR’s fourth African acquisition since 2011, making it one of the top three environmental consultants in Southern Africa. SES has extensive expertise in coal and iron ore development as well as in social impact, adding to SLR’s capabilities in Africa.

For the second successive year, SLR Consulting, which provides specialist advice and support on a wide range of strategic and site-specific issues; also reported record EBITA (earnings before interest, tax and amortisation), up to £9.4m – with more new business secured in the UK and across Europe than ever before.

David Richards, Chief Executive of SLR, said: “These international acquisitions represent further milestones in our approach to augment strong organic growth with the selective acquisition of complimentary companies to extend our technical and geographic coverage. With additional acquisition finance secured in 2012, we will continue to consider other selective acquisition opportunities, particularly in North America.”

SLR continues to experience a high level of repeat business with 57 per cent of revenue coming from clients of more than five years standing. 2013 has also seen SLR implement a recruitment drive in the UK as part of its strategy to attract additional industry experts to support its expansion plans.

“Over the last year we have strengthened our offering, both geographically and in terms of core skills, to affirm our position as a top five specialist international environmental consultancy, with particular strength in natural resources,” added David Richards.