The Construction Claims Group of Hill International, which includes Knowles in UK, is to be acquired by Bridgepoint Development Capital in a transaction totalling US$147m (£119m).
Hill’s Construction Claims Group (CCG), which has around 900 professionals in 40 offices worldwide, provides services including claims consulting, management consulting, litigation support, expert witness testimony, cost/damages assessment and adjudication.
Over the past decade, CCG has grown, both organically and through a series of strategic acquisitions, to become the world’s premier construction claims consultancy.
During 2015, CCG’s consulting fee revenue was US$163.1m, an increase of 10% on the previous year.
Hill International’s subsidiary companies operating within CCG are also included in Bridgepoint’s acquisition, namely:
- Knowles, headquartered in Warrington, UK (acquired by Hill International in September 2006);
- PCI Group, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, US (acquired in August 2008);
- McLachlan Lister, headquartered in Sydney, Australia (acquired in June 2010);
- Binnington Copeland & Associates, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa (acquired in May 2013);
- Cadogans, headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, UK (acquired in October 2014).
“The Bridgepoint investment gives us the independence to build our business precisely around what the industry is telling us they need – seamless access to a comprehensive range of advisory, consulting and expert services around the world,” said Renny Borhan, managing director of CCG.
“It is exciting to have the backing of a like-minded investor who shares our vision to lead by structuring our business around this requirement and whose track record of growing and funding international businesses is widely acknowledged. We look forward to revealing full details of the new business,” he added.
Alan Payne, partner of Bridgepoint Development Capital, said: “CCG provides the opportunity to back a business that is highly regarded by its customers, in a primary buyout of a global leader serving a growing market.
“Under new ownership, the company will now focus on driving performance by improving its operations, making targeted acquisitions as it further consolidates its market and by continuing to develop additional adjacent service offerings for its clients.”
Senior debt financing for the transaction was provided by BlueBay and HSBC. Advisers involved included: for Bridgepoint – DC Advisory (corporate finance), EY (financial due diligence and tax), Travers Smith LLP (legal) and Choate Hall & Stewart LLP (legal); for the vendor – KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc (financial) and Duane Morris LLP (legal).
