Companies

Supertall specialist Thornton Tomasetti to merge with New York rival

US engineers Thornton Tomasetti and Weidlinger Associates have announced that they will merge. Both are based in New York City.

The new firm will adopt the Thornton Tomasetti brand, although three of Weidlinger’s practices that enjoy "strong industry recognition" will retain their names. These are Weidlinger Applied Science, Weidlinger Protective Design and Weidlinger Transportation.

The combined turnover of the new entity will be $240m and it will employ 1,200 staff in 34 cities around the world.

The firms have complementary workloads. About 95% of Thornton Tomasetti’s work in the past year was in buildings, whereas Weidlinger’s particular strength is in transportation-related projects such as bridges.

Combining our firms brings together two highly respected and recognised talent pools, creating significantly greater potential for growth and innovation than either firm could achieve alone– Thomas Scarangello, Thornton Tomasetti chairman

Both companies are privately owned, and the terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, Raymond Daddazio, Weidlinger’s chief executive, said that Weidlinger 47 shareholders were exchanging their stock for stock, and that "cash is not changing hands".

Thornton Tomasetti had a turnover of $180m in 2014 revenue and is ranked 71 on Engineering News-Record’s list of the top 500 design firms. It is best known for its work on supertall buldings such as the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and Taipei 101 in Taiwan. It is presently engaged on the  1km Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Thomas Scarangello, the chairman and chief executive of Thornton Tomasetti, said: "Combining our firms brings together two highly respected and recognised talent pools, creating significantly greater potential for growth and innovation than either firm could achieve alone."

Daddazio commented: "Just as important as our complementary suite of services and geographic footprints is our compatible cultures. While no two firms are exactly alike, ours bear many similarities – including the drive for innovation, long-standing entrepreneurial spirits, and shared values in philanthropy, employee enrichment, embracing challenges and a desire to make lasting contributions."
 
Scarangello will remain in his current role. Daddazio will join Thornton Tomasetti’s as co-president alongside Bob DeScenza, who is due to retire later this year. There are expected to be no redundancies as a result of the merger.

The new company is planning to establish a research and development holding company and will seek outside investors "to incubate, develop and market product and service innovation,"  Daddazio said.

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