Partners:

[unspecified]

Active 1969-

Firm Notes

In 2022, WSP Group, PLC, operated as an cross-disciplinary engineering consultancy headquartered in London, England. It was founded in Surrey, England, as the "Williams Sale Partnership, Limited," in 1969. A broad-spectrum engineering firm, it had particular expertise in transportation projects.

WSP expanded into the US market in 2000 through the acquisitions of two American companies, Cantor Seinuk (established in 1953) and Flack + Kurtz (founded in 1969), a mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering company.

In 2012, WSP was purchased by the Quebec-based engineering giant, GENIVAR. The combination between GENIVAR and WSP created a behemoth engineering firm with 15,000 employees in 300 worldwide offices. (See WSP.com, "Our Story," accessed 05/23/2022.)

WSP purchased the vernerable American engineering firm, Parsons Brinckerhoff in 10/2014, becoming "WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff" until 05/10/2017, when it became known simply as "WSP." Also in 2014, WSP bought ccrd, a Texas-headquartered mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering company. A year later, it acquired Halvorson and Partners (established in 1996 in Chicago, IL), a structural engineering firm focused on high-profile high-rises.

WSP continued its well-financed spending spree in 2016, purchasing oil services giant Schlumberger's water management division. After this in 2016, it took over CRC, a New York engineering concern focused on designing cogeneration plants and other types of utility facilities. By 2017, WSP made three large acquisitions: Leggette, Brashears and Graham, foudned in 1944, hydrogeological engineers headquartered in Shelton, CT; YR and G, a sustainable design firm with offices in New York, NY, Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, and Portland, OR; Willoughby Engineers, a mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering firm with offices in Chicago, IL, and Dallas, TX. (See WSP.com, "Our Story," accessed 05/23/2022.)

WSP purchased in 2018 the Morristown, NJ-based Louis Berger (founded in 1953 in Harrisburg, PA), a broad-based engineering and design firm with 6,000 employees in 50 offices worldwide. Louis Berger was a favorite consultant of the US Government, becoming the third largest contractor with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2011. WIth this acquisition, WSP grew to have 48,000 employees in 300 offices worldwide.

PCAD id: 6639