By Aniruddha Basu
BANGALORE, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Engineering and design firm
Aecom Technology Corp <ACM.N> plans to spend more than $150
million on acquisitions in the next 10 months, mostly in the
water distribution market, as it looks to expand its presence
globally.
Aecom, which went public in May, expects to target up to nine
companies in fiscal 2008 and strike a balance in revenue coming
from acquisitions and organic growth, Chief Financial Officer
Michael Burke said in a telephone interview.
"The ideal acquisition would be a very strategic play in the
water and environmental area. To us, that is the biggest growth
opportunity in our end markets," Burke said.
The Los Angeles-based company, which provides engineering
services for water collection and treatment facilities as well as
construction services, is also trying to expand in China, Canada,
the Middle East and Continental Europe.
In the first quarter of 2008, Aecom had acquired companies
such as Canada-based environmental consulting firm Gartner Lee,
Chinese architectural and engineering company CityMark and
consulting firm Economic Research Associates.
Burke said Aecom is targeting mostly privately held
companies, but added that it will look at public entities too, if
they are a strategic fit.
"We look at deals that are immediately accretive on a cash
basis," Burke said.
Aecom competes with engineering firms URS Corp <URS.N>,
Jacobs Engineering Group <JEC.N>, Tetra Tech Inc <TTEK.O> and a
number of private and local companies across the world.
The company currently trades at 21 times its forward
earnings, compared to 29 times for Jacobs Engineering and 22
times for Tetra Tech.
Shares of the company rose nearly 4 percent to $28.47 in
morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Editing by Anil D'Silva)
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Keywords: AECOM ACQUISITION/