ACS Group says it is integrating its North American civil engineering and construction businesses by combining its Dragados unit with Flatiron Construction into a single operation. In announcing the combination July 30, Madrid-based ACS said Flatiron-Dragados would become the second-largest civil engineering firm in the U.S.

"The operation aims to simplify the group's structure of the civil engineering activity in North America, facilitate the relationship with different stakeholders and promote administrative and financial synergies," ACS stated. 

The boards of Hochtief, which has owned Flatiron since 2007, and ACS have approved the transaction, but it will be finalized later in 2024, the firms said.

There had already been close links between the companies. ACS is also majority owner of Hochtief, the Essen, Germany-based contractor that owns Turner Construction Co. 

Flatiron and Dragados have also been joint venture partners and currently are in a joint venture as prime contractor for Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi, Texas, and for Construction Package 2-3 of the California High Speed Rail project.

ACS and Hochtief stated that they had agreed to terms under which ACS Group would own 61.8% and Hochtief 38.2% of Flatiron-Dragados. Broomfield, Colo.-based Flatiron and New York City-based Dragados reported a combined $6.4 billion in 2023 revenue and ranked at Nos. 49 and 37, respectively, on the ENR Top 400 Contractors list.

Flatiron CEO Javier Sevilla was named as CEO of the newly formed entity, with Peter Davoren serving as the new company's chairman. He remains CEO, president and chairman of Turner Construction, which announced this month an acquisition bid for Dornan Engineering Group, an Ireland-based advanced technology specialist.

Separately, ACS reported results for the first half of 2024 of $450 million in net after-tax profit, up 8.1% over the prior year first half, on $20.2 billion in revenue, due to solid performance "especially Turner in North America."

ACS further reported Turner had first-half revenue of $9.35 billion, up 13.5% from the first half in 2023, and pre-tax profit of $267 million, up 38.5%.