Neill and Gunter to join Stantec

    Neill and Gunter announced August 13 it signed a letter of intent to join forces with North American design firm Stantec. Neill and Gunter, with about 130 employees in Portland, is a full-service consulting engineering firm with approximately 700 staff in 13 offices in Canada and the United States. Stantec recently entered the market in Portland with the acquisition of Dufresne-Henry in 2006 and enhanced their presence with the addition of Land Use Consultants in April 2007.      “We’re excited about the prospect of Neill and Gunter joining Stantec,” said Tony Franceschini, Stantec president and CEO. “They will increase our current presence in the eastern United States, particularly in New England, add a strong presence for Stantec in Atlantic Canada and nearly double our industrial practice in North America.”
    For over 40 years, Neill and Gunter has provided consulting engineering services to heavy industry in the domains of power and utilities, oil and gas, pulp and paper, food and beverage, mining, and composite wood products. Neill and Gunter brings to Stantec additional experience in the fields of environmental, transportation, municipal, manufacturing and building services.
    “While our firm has been experiencing a time of growth and success, joining Stantec will give us the opportunity to make the changes we need to remain competitive in the future,” said William Shelley, Neill and Gunter president and CEO. “As a part of Stantec we become a global firm with robust technological systems and an established presence in most of the major markets in North America.”
     “In addition, our employees will have more opportunities to grow their careers in the larger firm and we will be able to offer our clients a greater depth and breadth of services,” added Shelley.
    The firms expect to complete the transaction in October subject to a Neill and Gunter shareholder vote and upon completion of satisfactory due diligence. Stantec is quickly becoming a force in Maine. In addition to the company’s growth with Dufresene-Henry and Land Use Consultants, Stantec recently signed a letter of intent to acquire another local firm, Woodlot Alternatives. Woodlot is a 70-person consulting firm that specializes in environmental planning, permitting, natural resource identification in terrestrial, aquatic and marine environments, ecological restoration, wetland analyses, eco-risk assessment, mapping and GIS services, and land use consulting. That transaction is expected to be complete in September. Currently, Stantec has over 40 employees in offices located in Portland and Presque Isle. With the current pending transactions, the firm is poised to grow its presence in the state to more than 240 by the end of October, with the vast majority of those employees located in Portland.
     For more information visit www.announcement.stantec.com/neillandgunter.
     Stantec, founded in 1954, provides professional design and consulting services in planning, engineering, architecture, surveyin, and project management. The company supports public and private sector clients in a diverse range of markets, at every stage, from initial concept and financial feasibility to project completion and beyond. Services are offered through more than 6,500 employees operating out of about 100 locations in North America and the Caribbean. Stantec trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol STN and on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SXC.