Construction industry firms and professionals working globally will find opportunities in markets that are fast-developing and changing over the next two decades, but they must prepare now for challenges that clients have not yet fully expressed or even recognized, executives told attendees at ENR’s Global Construction Summit in New York City on Sept. 10.
Less than a year after its transformative acquisition of U.S.-based giant Parsons Brinckerhoff for $1.35 billion, Canada's WSP Global is set to expand domestically with an Aug. 25 announced plan to purchase privately-held Ontario engineer MMM Group Ltd. for about $320.5 million.
Analysts speculated earlier in August that Timothy A. Ford could be heir apparent to Ronald DeFeo as CEO of crane and construction equipment giant Terex Corp., but the president of the Westport, Conn., company's cranes unit has departed in the wake of a top-level executive reshuffling made public on Aug. 19.
After five years of litigation related to repercussions of safety whistleblowing at the Hanford federal nuclear waste cleanup site, former URS Corp. engineering manager Walter Tamosaitis has reached a $4.1-million settlement with AECOM, which bought the firm last October.
Nearly a decade after Florida-based transportation engineer PBSJ Corp. was rocked by a $36-million corporate embezzlement scandal involving its former chief financial officer and two associates, another industry firm has felt the sting of a top executive's financial improprieties.
Related Links: Two generations of Hill International link to turn N.J. firm into a project management giant Hill International has held off an activist investor's push begun two months ago to boost the Philadelphia-based construction management and risk consultant's stock price through a possible sale. The company's shareholders voted on Aug. 7 to reject two new directors from the activist, Bulldog Investors, as well as its proposal to hire an investment banker to probe "liquidity" options.The firm did agree to add two new independent directors to its seven-member board, with "appropriate candidates" to be identified over the next several months.
AP Photo Remediation of abandoned uranium mine sites, such as this on in New Mexico, will be accelerated under a 2014 settement with Anadarko Petroleum Corp.; Weston Solutions will be working on cleanup for EPA. Related Links: Cash-Squeezed in Dispute, Weston Solutions Sees Layoffs Ahead Global Market Challenges Dent Revenue for 2015 Top 200 Environmental Firms Weston Solutions’ foray in 2009 into design-build work on a U.S. diplomatic office building in Taiwan didn’t turn out so well when a Chinese subcontractor defaulted and left the firm in financial turmoil by 2013, generating layoffs and a C-suite reshuffle.With that episode now
Global design firm Louis Berger and the U.S. Justice Dept. announced a settlement on July 17 of bribery charges against former senior managers in Asia that includes a three-year deferred prosecution of the firm, suspending prosecution of any criminal charges and a $17.1-million fine.
Infrastructures Canada Champlain bridge, valued at between $2.5 billion and $4 billion, is set to open in 2018. Related Links: Public Works and Govt Services Canada-Integrity Regime-FAQs Canada's Globe and Mail editorial: The integrity framework is still too tough Facing an expected broad business backlash and potential impacts on completion of big federal infrastructure jobs, the Canadian government released a toned-down version of its “integrity guidelines” for federal contractors.The revision moderates penalties, that were set in 2014 for corruption infractions in the wake of unfolding bribe allegations against giant Montreal contractor SNC-Lavalin. The firm, which does much federal work, was
