The professional and engineering services and solutions company Jacobs [J] on Monday said it has agreed to acquire a majority share of the technology consulting firm PA Consulting and form a strategic partnership aimed at bringing additional technical expertise to its end markets.
PA Consulting, which is based in London, provides a wide range of technical capabilities including digital, performance improvement, business design, product design and engineering, data analytics and artificial intelligence, cyber and more to a diverse set of customers. The company provides end-to-end services and capabilities to its diverse set of customers.
PA’s largest end markets are defense and security, which account for 24 percent of its business, public services 18 percent, health and life sciences 17 percent, financial services 12 percent, and consumer and manufacturing 10 percent.
“We are on the cusp of the next digital revolution as advances across 5G-driven computer power, robotics, autonomous technology, machine learning automation and geospatial technology converge to provide solutions to many of the world’s most complex challenges, including disruption to traditional business models,” Steve Demetriou, chairman and CEO of Jacobs, said in a statement. “Our partnership with PA forms a unique offering in the market that combines strategic front-end consulting and deep domain knowledge across key sectors with next generation science and technology expertise.”
Demetriou said that Jacobs has been transforming itself into a “technology enabled solutions provider,” adding that “This strategic partnership is an intentional move in accelerating our strategy to lead the market as a company like no other.”
Jacobs will acquire 65 percent of PA amounting to $995 million in equity and $845 million in debt financing, placing an enterprise value on the company of $2.4 billion. The Carlyle Group, the current majority stakeholder in PA, is exiting its investment and PA’s employees will own the remaining 35 percent stake in the company.
The pending deal, which is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2021, follows Jacobs’ acquisition on Nov. 24 of The Buffalo Group, which provides analytical and technical capabilities in the domains of cyber, ground, sea, airborne and space to customers in the intelligence community. Terms of that deal were not disclosed.
Some of PA’s customers in the defense space include the United Kingdom’s Space Agency and Ministry of Defense Science and Technology Laboratory, BAE Systems, and Leonardo Helicopters. The company has also helped Virgin Hyperloop in the area of high-speed travel.
PA said the partnership with Jacobs gives it a platform to accelerate its growth through global scale and an expanded customer base. PA has over 3,200 employees.
Jacobs’ financial adviser on the deal is Rothschild & Co. J.P. Morgan and HSBC are serving as financial advisers to The Carlyle Group and PA.