The Austin Co. has sold an interest in its Southwest and Midwest regional operations to its design-build competitor AECOM Technology Corp., the Los Angeles based giant, and the two companies have formed a new venture.

The deal, announced Feb. 7 by AECOM, is called Austin AECOM. AECOM owns McClier Corp., a major design-build contractor based in Chicago that was founded by former Austin Co. employees.

The new venture represents the merger of McClier and the Austin company regional operations. It will be based in Chicago, which is McClier’s headquarters, and will be part of AECOM’s facilities group, the company says.

Under the terms of the deal, Cleveland-based Austin Co. will continue to operate through four offices in Cleveland, Atlanta, Kansas City and Irvine. The company also has operations in Great Britain.

Austin Co. President Pat Flanagan says that divesting a portion of the company is worth gaining access to AECOM’s resources. “We see this as an exciting opportunity to work with AECOM in the future,” he says.

Terpin

The two companies both serve many of the same industrial markets, including newspaper production plants. Discussions of a deal between the companies was first report in October by Editor & Publisher, a newspaper industry publication.
Austin. Co. ranked 87 on ENR’s Top 400 Contractors, with construction revenues of $404.9 million in 2003. The company ranked 181 on ENR’s Top 500 Designers, based on 2003 revenues of $46.1 million.

“There is one element driving this move—mutual advantage in serving our clients,” says Austin AECOM President Ken Terpin. He formerly headed McClier.