Stantec To Change CEO at Year-End
One year after wrapping up Canadian design firm Stantec’s epic acquisition of MWH Global for nearly $800 million, President and CEO Robert Gomes on June 21 announced that he will step down at year’s end after eight years in the role.
Named as successor is Gord Johnston, executive vice president of the company’s infrastructure operating unit. Formerly head of the engineer’s water business, he has been key in integrating MWH, its largest acquisition to date, says Stantec, which is publicly traded on the Toronto Exchange. The firm’s chief operating officer, CFO and chief business officer remain unchanged. “While some might be questioning the timing of the announcement and whether there is any negative implication for [second-quarter] numbers, [it] is not surprising,” says Maxim Sytchev, construction industry analyst at National Bank Financial, Toronto. In a June 21 report, he said Stantec shares were down 4.8% year-to-date, but that was above its North American industry peers—which fell 7%, on average—tracked by the firm. Stantec also announced on June 22 that it would buy Denver-based RNL Design, which it says will strengthen its buildings practice. Terms of the deal for the 134-person firm were not disclosed, nor were details on a new role for RNL Chairman and CEO Joshua Gould. Going forward, Johnston told the Edmonton Journal that Stantec would seek to expand in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
Contractor Tutor Perini Corp. has hired Leonard J. Rejcek as president and CEO of its building group, the firm said on June 12. He had been president and chief operating officer of Manhattan Construction Co. Rejcek succeeds Craig W. Shaw, who Tutor-Perini says will become an executive vice president. In a federal filing last month, the firm also reported that Bank of America Corp. has paid it $37 million to resolve a lawsuit claiming the bank defrauded the firm in selling it millions of dollars of auction-rate securities in 2007-08 it knew were near collapse, says Reuters. The contractor said the payment resolves a 2011 federal court lawsuit.
The American Society of Civil Engineers has elected Robin A. Kemper president for 2018-19. A New Jersey-based senior risk engineering consultant at Zurich Services Corp., she is the third woman, successively, to lead the 150,000-member group.
