British engineering, design and planning consultancy Atkins said Monday it had reached an agreement to acquire the Projects, Products and Technology (PP&T) division of EnergySolutions, expanding on its purchase in 2014 of Nuclear Safety Associates in an effort to broaden its customer base in nuclear power.
The multinational firm is best known for work on roads and railways. But Atkins Chief Executive Officer Dr. Uwe Krueger said the $318 million acquisition “accelerates” the company's reach in to nuclear markets in North American, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The firm sees the nuclear market as “growing and profitable,” he said.
PP&T offers a range of technical engineering and program management services for the decontamination and decommissioning of high hazard nuclear facilities and for the environmental remediation of nuclear waste storage sites. PP&T reported a revenue of $281.4 million in 2014 with an adjusted operating profit of $30.7 million. Gross assets as of 30 September 2015 were figured at $171.3 million.
EnergySolutions said Atkins will pay $318 million for the PP&T business, which is comprised of EnergySolutions’ North American government, Europe, and Asia businesses. Atkins will hire approximately 650 EnergySolutions employees pursuant to the agreement. EnergySolutions will retain its logistics, processing and disposal (“LP&D”) business, its reactor decommissioning business, including current projects at Zion, IL and LaCrosse, WI, and its North American utility services, including liquid waste processing, fuel pool services, and other commercial projects.
Atkins sees opportunity at both ends of the nuclear industry, including new build projects and decommissioning of aging plants. “For example, of more than 400 current reactors worldwide, nearly 75 percent are more than 25 years old,” the firm said in a statement.
PP&T also helps Atkins expand its opportunities in the Asia Pacific market, which the firm categorized as “a large and fast-growing new build and decommissioning market.” Among other projects, PP&T helped design and supply several water treatment systems employed at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.