EC Harris, the leading international built asset consultancy today announced that it has signed a merger agreement with ARCADIS, the global professional services company with a leading position in the infrastructure, water, environmental and buildings markets headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Through this merger, the combined company will grow to almost 19,000 professionals and €2.3 billion revenues and have the scale and expertise to deliver even better outcomes for its clients across the globe. ARCADIS and EC Harris will together become a top five global leader in strategic built asset advisory and project delivery services, with a combined total of close to 6,000 staff in this area and particular strengths in Europe, the US and Brazil. EC Harris’s well established and rapidly expanding operations in Asia and the Middle East will also provide ARCADIS with strong footholds in these markets. Furthermore, the deal brings ARCADIS into the top five consultants in the UK, allowing it to expand its relationships with multinational clients both inside and outside the country.

Under the terms of the deal, ARCADIS will take full ownership EC Harris LLP in return for 3million shares and an undisclosed cash sum. The merger is contingent on EC Harris partner approval and related closing requirements. It is anticipated that completion will occur in November 2011.

EC Harris will continue to operate as a partnership, with a company-wide remit within ARCADIS, taking up a leadership role in the global Buildings business line and driving the development of the Programme and Project Management services. EC Harris will bring their built asset consultancy approach to the wider ARCADIS business, taking a leading role in the UK, Middle East and Asia.

The EC Harris leadership team will remain in place, with Philip Youell continuing as Chief Executive and joining the ARCADIS Senior Management Committee. EC Harris’s current Chairman, Richard Clare, will step into a wider strategic client development role in ARCADIS whilst remaining on the EC Harris Board in an advisory capacity. There are no plans for any redundancies as part of the deal.

Philip Youell, Chief Executive of EC Harris said: “This is a unique deal that will accelerate our vision and plans for growth and will enable us to deliver our clients’ goals as well as our own. Whilst we have been successful in winning some very large programmes of work and have many more in the pipeline, the demand from our clients is such that we recognized that we needed to grow and develop internationally, at a much faster rate than we are currently doing. We have received a number of approaches from large international companies in the past, but ARCADIS is the only one that has been right culturally and strategically for EC Harris, it is an exceptional fit. ARCADIS genuinely shares a client-first philosophy and a clear vision of the style of business we need to be in order to meet changing client needs. We now have the strength and intention to invest and further develop a leading global built asset consultancy position.”

ARCADIS CEO Harrie Noy about the merger: “This merger is a major step forward in realizing our strategic ambitions. With EC Harris we get a leading position in project management and related services while their built asset consultancy approach perfectly fits our goal of expanding our services at the high end of the value chain. With the expansion of our footprint in the Middle East and Asia we can capitalize on the growth opportunities in these markets. Our strengthened position in the UK market will allow us to provide a wider portfolio of services to the clients of our combined firms. We welcome the strength of the EC Harris brand and the leadership they bring to ARCADIS and are excited about the synergy opportunities.”