The recent news that CDM acquired Wilbur Smith is another example of how the A/E industry is changing. Every deal is different, but I believe that clients’ evolving demands are behind the current merger mania. Clients are reacting to challenges to staffing and oversight by bundling more projects together, and they are looking to have single contracts that encompass a wide variety of services.
For example, it is becoming much harder to find clients with separate contracts for civil, structural and geotechnical engineering.Further, many clients are using alternative delivery techniques that put the A/E industry in a different contracting and delivery position.