Ricardo to expand presence in Australia with acquisition of PLC Consulting PTY Ltd

• Ricardo acquires entire share capital of PLC Consulting PTY Ltd, a planning, environment and infrastructure consultancy based in Australia.
• Acquisition increases Ricardo’s existing Australian based environmental capabilities within the growing Australian market and expands on Ricardo’s recent Australian rail acquisition.

Ricardo plc has announced that it has signed a share purchase deed to acquire the assets, operations and employees engaged in the PLC Consulting PTY Ltd business. The acquisition is expected to complete on 31 July 2019, joining Ricardo’s international energy and environment business and adopting the Ricardo brand identity from the same date. PLC Consulting PTY Ltd is a privately-owned Company and Director Deane Ellwood will remain and continue to lead the business together with the Company’s employees.
 
PLC Consulting has a strong technical advisory capability in the full infrastructure and environment planning life-cycle, including supporting the environmental requirements of master-planning, business cases, procurement, design, construction and operation. The services complement and extend Ricardo’s existing energy and environment capabilities.
 
Dave Shemmans, CEO of Ricardo plc commented: “I am delighted to be able to announce the signing of the share purchase agreement with PLC Consulting and look forward to welcoming Deane Ellwood and his team into Ricardo. I am extremely passionate about the work our energy and environment experts deliver in helping to mitigate the worsening impacts of climate change, the reduction of waste and the protection of the world’s scarce resources. The opportunities that this acquisition will provide in helping us continue to grow our environmental services in Australia is very exciting”.
 
“This acquisition is in line with our strategy of diversification both geographically and market sector, further increasing the proportion of our business in the environmental sector.”
 
Deane Ellwood, MD of PLC Consulting commented: "It’s very exciting to be joining Ricardo, a leading international consultancy business, which already has a footprint in Australia. We are delighted to bring our environment and planning expertise to join forces with the multi-disciplinary capabilities of Ricardo’s existing experts.”
 
Ricardo’s investment in the environmental sector aligns with the increasing awareness of the risks of climate change, public pressure for more ambitious action on reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and the swiftness of government policy response. For more than 30 years, technical experts in Ricardo’s Energy & Environment division have been supporting governments and major organisations across the world in an effort to tackle the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
 
“I am delighted that Deane and his team are joining us” says Tim Curtis, MD of Ricardo’s Energy & Environment division. “They have built a strong local presence, with an impressive portfolio of projects and capabilities. By having the PLC team on board, we can offer an increased range of technical disciplines to our collective client base within the Asia Pacific market. We have seen significant demand for our services in the Australian market and the acquisition will support us in sustainably growing our business.”