(Montreal) The Montreal company WSP Global announced on Monday the sale of its subsidiary Louis Berger Services to the American firm Versar, less than five years after the acquisition of the parent company of LBS.
WSP bought Louis Berger Holdings, which specializes in the operation and maintenance of military installations and transportation infrastructure, for US$400 million in December 2018.
The New Jersey company had 5,000 employees at the time. WSP says the subsidiary it sold employed 1,400 people.
WSP’s decision stands out in the context of multiple acquisitions, including at least eight that have been completed since May 2022.
Formerly known as Genivar, the engineering firm has more than quadrupled its number of employees in the past ten years. It had about 67,300 employees as of mid-May, including some 11,000 who were hired in 2022.
Versar, which is owned by private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management, is a Washington-based project management firm specializing in engineering and security services.
