Global engineering firm Ricardo buys infrastructure consultancy E3 Advisory
Australian infrastructure specialist E3 Advisory has been picked up by UK-based global environmental and engineering consultancy Ricardo in a deal worth around AU$100 million.
Established in 2014, E3 Advisory boasts a headcount in excess of 100 professionals based out of offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, who serve government clients and those in the critical infrastructure sectors.
Listed on the London Stock Exchange and tracing its heritage back more than a century, Ricardo meanwhile has a workforce of 3,000-plus advisers and technicians across four continents generating revenues pushing the £500 million mark.
“E3 provides Ricardo with a compelling strategic opportunity, offering further scope to increase our mix of strategy consulting and advisory services,” stated CEO Graham Ritchie. “We look forward to working with the talented team and combining our capabilities to offer differentiated advisory and technical consulting solutions to our clients in the Australian market and also internationally.”
Taking its name from ‘efficiency, effectiveness and economic value’, E3 provides a range of strategy, transactions, disputes and commercial services covering the infrastructure life-cycle, with a particular focus on the transport, energy, water, and mining & resources sectors.
Employee-owned, E3 has been led by founding member and managing principal Sutina Tsang since 2022 alongside a team of approximately two dozen fellow principals. The ~$100 million deal, which coincides with Ricardo selling off its defence business, sees the engineering group acquire an initial 85 percent of the company, with the remainder expected to be picked up by the beginning of 2028.
“E3 Advisory’s skilled team, strong track record, and substantial growth potential are highly complementary to our geographic focus and capability in energy and transport infrastructure,” Ricardo stated. “The acquisition is in line with the group’s shift to its core consulting capabilities in environmental transition solutions and allows us to take a leading position within the Australian market.”
Ricardo said the acquisition would lift its local headcount to almost 300, and comes amid a flurry of M&A and other activity in the sustainability sector ahead of mandatory climate reporting, both as to breakaway start-ups, investments, and consolidation.
Other deals over the past week include RSK’s purchase of Edge Impact, and EMM Consulting bringing on Quadrant as minority stakeholder.
