Dive Brief:
- Overland Park, Kansas-based engineering and construction firm Black & Veatch acquired Eastland, Texas-based electrical contractor Bird Electric, the company announced on May 4. Bird will join Black & Veatch’s Grid Solutions portfolio. Terms were not disclosed.
- Bird brings more than 600 employees and a large fleet of equipment and facilities, which will provide Black & Veatch greater operating capabilities and an expanded network to serve its electric utility clients, according to the release.
- In addition to the growing grid solutions segment, Bird will operate in adjacent markets such as EV charging, renewables and connectivity. Black & Veatch believes that these markets have high potential due to growing demand for decarbonization and sustainability.
Dive Insight:
Bird Electric is a self-perform electrical construction services provider to electric utilities with a national reach in emergency power restoration, a market Black & Veatch is focused on growing, according to the release.
Bird also has long-established relationships with fuels producers, and its capabilities are relevant and applicable to other adjacent linear and distributed construction markets that Black & Veatch serves.
Mario Azar, Black & Veatch chairman & CEO, said that the acquisition will broaden the company’s offerings.
“It … aligns to both companies’ vision to expand our solutions in the markets we serve, bring construction capabilities to a wider client base and provide broader career and personal growth opportunities to our professionals — all opening the door to an exciting future,” Azar said in the release.
Black & Veatch generated $4.3 billion in revenue in 2022, according to the company, and ranked No.14 in Engineering News-Record’s 2023 Top 500 Design Firms.
The company performs a breadth of services for clients in both the public and private sectors, such as the KentuckyWired broadband network, a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership that the state of Kentucky formed with financial services firm Macquarie Capital. Black & Veatch also serves as a consultant on a McCarthy-led project at the Kansas River Wastewater Treatment Plant.
