Mouchel Parkman - General - UK, Three Acquisitions Strengthens Support Services Specialist

Date: 17 Nov 2006

In a series of bolt-on acquisitions, valued at nearly £50 million, professional support services provider Mouchel Parkman has strengthened its position in project and programme management, in the water utilities sector and in traffic systems and technology - signalling its ongoing commitment to further growth in each of its core markets.

The acquisition of Hornagold and Hills, Traffic Support Limited (TSL) and Ewan Group plc enables Mouchel Parkman to offer a broader range of project management, management consultancy and organisational change consultancy services in markets ranging from public-sector and commercial property, through the heritage and regeneration sectors, to water, highways and rail infrastructure.

The acquisitions will see Mouchel Parkman staff numbers rise by nearly 500, taking total resources for the professional and support services group to some 6,800. Total reported revenues in the last year for the three companies just acquired amounted to more than £30m.

Hornagold and Hills, the project management and organisational change specialist, is well known as a champion of urban regeneration programmes and conservation schemes in London and throughout the UK. It employs 170 staff and has worked with clients ranging from British Airways, BAA and Transport for London to the BBC and Pfizer. In January this year it published a report entitled Thames Gateway: Laying the Blue Line which sets out a strategy for the industry in the Thames Gateway region. The strong synergy that exists with Mouchel Parkman's own management consultancy and property management businesses creates the opportunity for a broader-based consultancy across the public sector and regulated industry as well as introducing some new private-sector relationships to the Group.

Traffic Support Limited (TSL) provides the innovative software and system solutions that have now become well established in parking management throughout the UK and Ireland. Acquisition of this business provides the Group with an opportunity to extend its local authority support services offer in the decriminalised parking market, where it will now be able to provide services ranging from design to operations. This is a rapidly emerging market and the software produced by TSL has already proved itself flexible and robust enough to migrate into a number of other related markets such as congestion charging and civil enforcement.

Ewan Group is a multi-professional water and utilities consultancy which provides services ranging from asset, infrastructure and facilities management to consultancy support on the European Water Framework Directive and supply-demand management. Ewan Group's extensive customer base in the regulated sector fits well with that of Mouchel Parkman - both companies working for the majority of UK water plcs - and the combined resources of the two companies in oil, gas and power provides the platform for a more extensive energy consultancy business. Ewan Group's strong environmental credentials create further opportunity for water and energy efficiency projects and the application of more renewable solutions to our infrastructure needs.

"We have reached an extremely important stage in our plans for growth," says Mouchel Parkman Chief Executive Richard Cuthbert. "It further differentiates our offer in the property, water and highways markets and the unique perspective of each of the firms we have acquired gives us the opportunity to champion future strategic and technological developments in those markets in which we operate.

"For our clients in these areas this is great news, providing not only the depth that these new businesses will bring us but also some innovative products that will define the way we manage knowledge and information in the future."

Hornagold and Hills

Richard Cuthbert commented: "Hornagold and Hills presents us with some exciting new prospects in the commercial property and corporate end-user sectors as well as strengthening our strategic consultancy service offer in our existing public-sector and regulated industry marketplace. It brings a great set of client relationships and also one of the most respected names in project and programme management in the UK."

David Hills, managing partner of Hornagold and Hills, said: "We are very excited about becoming part of Mouchel Parkman. The Hornagold and Hills business fits well with Mouchel Parkman's existing management consultancy activities and putting the two together will give us the critical mass we need to be an even bigger influence in the marketplace. I am particularly pleased to have been invited to lead the enlarged business."

Traffic Support Limited

Keith Jackson, managing director of Mouchel Parkman's highways and transportation business, says: "Traffic Support Limited is market-leader in a specialist area which we believe is now primed for rapid growth. The management of congestion in our towns and cities and on our national road networks will inevitably rely more and more on technological solutions and Mouchel Parkman can now position itself as one of a small number of companies able to offer a wholly integrated product and service solution in the UK."

Peter Spanos, chief executive of TSL, said: "This is, without doubt, excellent news for our business and our people. Mouchel Parkman's size and market leading position in highways will enable us to take our business to the next level in what is a very exciting and rapidly developing area."

Ewan Group

"The deal with Ewan Group positions Mouchel Parkman firmly as one of the UK's top three water consultancy service providers," says Piers Clark, managing director of Mouchel Parkman's utilities business. "It gives us the breadth of services and the resource resilience needed to compete effectively for services in the industry's next AMP cycle."

Vince Ewan, chairman of Ewan Group plc, added: "My management team is looking forward to becoming part of Mouchel Parkman. The combined skills of a larger group position us to play a more significant role in helping the water industry deliver its investment programme over the coming years."

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