Dive Brief:
- Jacksonville, FL,-based design, engineering and construction firm Haskell announced that it will purchase the $175 million heavy construction business of Leidos Holdings, Virginia-based Leidos Constructors, for an undisclosed amount, the Washington Business Journal reported. Leidos Constructors will conduct business as Benham, a Haskell Company, after the deal is complete.
- Haskell said the two companies will combine their expertise in the integrated project delivery approach, as well as the engineer-procure-construct delivery method.
- Leidos Holdings said it unloaded the construction unit because it did not "materially contribute" to its bottom line. Haskell will retain Benham’s offices in Oklahoma City; Tulsa, OK; St. Louis; St. Paul, MN; Houston and Charlotte, NC to increase its geographical presence in the U.S.
Dive Insight:
Leidos, based in Reston, VA, aims to "reshape its portfolio around more specialized design-and-build work" and veer away from the heavy construction sector, according to the Business Journal.
Steve Halverson, CEO of Haskell, said of the deal, "This partnership presents a strategic growth opportunity to leverage abundant talent and expertise to produce creative solutions that meet the demands of the AEC industry."
The more integrated approach to projects, which Haskell and Benham tout as their area of expertise, is a growing trend in the industry. One iteration of this process, integrated project delivery method, involves a contract in which the major players on a construction project — the owner, general contractor, architect, major subcontractors or suppliers — agree to take on the project cost, risk, design, responsibilities and profits on as a collaborative team.
Proponents of the method say that, if executed correctly, the benefits of the method include a faster project turnaround, controlled budgets, reduced change orders and a process by which companies can choose trade partners early on in the project. .