Australian defence consultancy Coras joins global engineering group AtkinsRéalis
Australian defence and national security consultancy Coras has been snapped up by global engineering services and advisory firm AtkinsRéalis, its third local purchase in the past six months.
Co-founded in Sydney in 2015 by Navy veteran and managing director Phil Cutts, Coras has since grown to a team of around 70 specialists with further offices in Adelaide and Canberra serving government and defence & security sector clients.
The consultancy’s sale to AtkinsRéalis follows less than a month on from the Canadian firm’s acquisition of Adelaide-based engineering consultancy WGA while Brisbane’s ADG was picked up in December, altogether adding more than 1,000 employees.
Cutts said joining the global firm was an important next chapter; “We have built our business on trusted relationships, outcome-focused advisory and a deep understanding of the defence environment. Becoming part of AtkinsRéalis will allow us to preserve what makes Coras distinctive while expanding our ability to support clients through access to broader expertise and global capabilities.”
For AtkinsRéalis (previously SNC-Lavalin), which has a global headcount in the range 40,000 in over 50 countries generating revenues of $11 billion – with last year’s 16 percent growth driven in part by its nuclear segment – the addition of Coras aligns with the firm’s strategy to expand its footprint in Australia and accelerate growth in key end markets, in particular defence.
“This is an exciting step for our business in Australia as we push on the next phase of our growth across the AMEA region,” said AtkinsRéalis president and CEO Ian Edwards. “Coras brings long‑standing relationships at the heart of the defence sector, built on trust, judgement and delivery discipline in some of the most highly specialised and demanding environments.”
AtkinsRéalis further noted that Coras’ expertise positions the firm at the front end of defence programs where early advisory engagement drives access to higher value and longer duration opportunities, as well as in combination with its own global engineering and infrastructure capabilities enhancing its ability to pursue larger and more complex projects.
Until now employee-owned (financial details of the transaction haven’t been disclosed), Coras provides advisory services throughout the defence capability life-cycle, including as to engineering and asset management & planning, procurement, program & project delivery, governance & assurance, and commercial advisory, along with strategy and management consulting.
In 2024, Coras reorganised its operations to a segment-based model, with its leadership nationalised and Neill Morgan, Brett Rylance, and Michelle Todd taking on separate portfolios and becoming partners at the time, since joined by Stuart Lymn, Annika Lees, and Andy Steere, the latter who came on board last year to lead a newly-launched nuclear submarines & infrastructure offering.
