Contracts were exchanged yesterday on a deal that allows architectural, design and engineering practice BDP to retain its existing operations and own brand identity. The intention is that complementary geographical footprints and technical skills of the two will be able them to work collaboratively on projects won across international markets.
BDP has six UK studios as well as offices in Ireland, the Netherlands, the Middle East, China and India. The firm employs 950 people and had a turnover of over £81m in 2015.
Nippon Koei employs about 3,200 people and had a turnover of £430m in 2015. It was originally established in 1946 as Japan’s first independent engineering consultancy. It specialises primarily in civil engineering and a significant proportion of its work is associated with infrastructure development funded by the Japanese Government and the World Bank in developing economies across Asia, South America and Africa. The acquisition of BDP is aimed at helping it expand in the rapidly growing Asian commercial markets.
BDP chief executive John McManus said: “The alliance with Nippon Koei heralds an exciting new era in BDP’s evolution. Although separated geographically, our two firms share common values and have highly complementary strengths in terms of professional offer and sector expertise. By uniting the two firms, we are creating an organisation which genuinely has the potential to be greater than the sum of its parts. We believe that this strategic international alignment will deliver huge benefits to our clients and will offer exceptional prospects for our people to develop both professionally and personally”.
Nippon Koei president Ryuichi Arimoto said: “As a leading architecture and design firm in the UK, BDP’s participation in the NK group will mark a great turning point in both of our histories. We will join forces on a global basis and provide solutions together to the many urban development problems from both an engineering and an architectural perspective. The combination of NK’s 70 years of experience in social development and infrastructure together with BDP’s 55 years of experience in the education, health and commercial sectors, will create significant opportunity to add value for our clients and, I am confident, will lead the group to become the world’s leading integrated architecture, engineering and design company for the next generation.”
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