Sweco to buy rail engineering firm

It plans to buy the rail infrastructure engineering and consulting business from NRC Group. The Finnish competition authority approval process for the acquisition has been initiated.

“We continue to deliver on our growth strategy with the ambition to become market leader in all of our key markets,” said Sweco president and CEO Åsa Bergman. “With the acquisition we strengthen our offering in a segment with large investment needs and a strong market.”

In Finland, the acquisition will make Sweco one of the largest players in the market in the fields of infrastructure, mobility and urban planning. It will also strengthen Sweco’s position in Sweden. With the acquisition, Sweco employs more than 1,200 rail and light rail professionals in northern Europe.

It said that it will now be able to provide a full-service range to its railway and light railway customers in Finland. “Increasing railway transportation is one of the key actions to prevent the climate change in and between urban areas, and Sweco is strongly involved in this development as an expert and trusted advisor of sustainable urban planning,” said Markku Varis, president of Sweco Finland.

NRC Group Finland managing director Harri Lukkarinen said: “Throughout our company’s history, design has always been an important part of our business, so we have worked hard to find an owner that will best be able to develop our design business going forward. We believe that our designers will reach their full potential as part of Sweco and continue to enhance their expertise. NRC Group and Sweco are currently working together on many projects and this acquisition will give us a chance to expand our collaboration in the Nordics. From now on, our experts can develop railway transportation in all of Northern Europe together with Sweco. This is a great opportunity.”

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