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ON THE MOVE AECOM ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF KRISTY PIPES TO ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS AECOM, the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, announced the appointment of Kristy Pipes to its Board of Directors. Pipes brings to the Board extensive management, financial and accounting experience, having held several senior leadership positions throughout her career, including most recently as managing director and chief financial officer at Deloitte Consulting, a global management consulting firm. The appointment became effective on October 1, 2022, and Pipes became a member of the Audit Committee upon her appointment to the Board.
“I am pleased to welcome Kristy Pipes to our Board of Directors,” said Douglas Stotlar, AECOM’s chairman of its Board of Directors. “Kristy’s notable experience, leadership and broad range of Professional Services industry expertise will bolster our efforts to advance our strategy as we focus on holistically advising our clients and capitalizing on increasing long-term demand for critical infrastructure, sustainability and resilience.” From 1999 until her retirement in 2019, Pipes served in various roles at Deloitte Consulting, including her positions as managing director and chief financial officer. She currently serves as a director of Public Storage, as a director of ExlService Holdings,
Inc., and as a director of Savers Value Village, Inc., which is an operator of retail stores. Previously, Pipes was a director of PS Business Parks, Inc., which was a publicly-traded real estate investment trust until acquired in July 2022. AECOM, is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust AECOM to solve their most complex challenges.
6. The general public thinks we need to make more investments in public infrastructure. We have even passed a huge infrastructure bill at the federal level that will provide additional funding for years ahead. That means lots of money will be flowing to build and improve roads, bridges, airports, public transportation, water and sewage treatment, power generation and distribution, and much more. These are the kinds of projects that make up more than half the revenue of AEC firms. When you combine high demand with an industry-wide shortage of people who can do the work, you have a very good situation for those firms with capacity. Private equity firms can see this. There is a bright future ahead for our industry. Hopefully by now you can see why private equity has discovered our industry. It’s going to present a whole new range of opportunities for those who are building companies in our business to cash in on their equity at some point, sooner or later. As someone who has worked with firm owners in this industry for 42 years and spent the last 18 years teaching entrepreneurship at the college level, I find this very exciting indeed! Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com. “Private equity is going to present a whole new range of opportunities for those who are building companies in our business to cash in on their equity at some point, sooner or later.”
MARK ZWEIG , from page 11
the private equity group has made investments in other B2B companies, their investment in an AEC firm could potentially benefit those companies as well. 3. The AEC industry is ripe for consolidation. We are a huge, fragmented industry of more than 100,000 small companies. Many of these firms have aging owners and struggle with ownership transition schemes that work and will allow their owners to get their value out when they want to go. That creates an opportunity for someone who has the capital to buy them out. Not to mention the fact that many clients of these firms – especially larger ones – prefer one-stop shopping where they can deal with larger AEC firms that can meet all of their needs. That creates an opportunity for industry consolidation, and one in our case that has a very long runway ahead. Private equity loves these scenarios. 4. AEC firms can successfully grow through acquisition. Over the years, buying and successfully integrating other AEC companies has become the norm rather than failing at it. Firms in our business are getting better every year at this. Private equity will seek out those companies that have proved they can successfully buy other firms in the same business because they can use these companies as growth platforms for further investments. 5. The risk of spectacular failure is really low. Very few AEC firms go out of business entirely. Sure, some may have a bad year or two, and could be impacted by a recession with resulting lower growth and profitability – but complete failure is rare. That reduces the risk for the private equity buyer and they like that.
M&A NEXT SYMPOSIUM Reserve your seat at the table as Zweig Group’s M&A thought leaders share insights and provide deep learning about current and “next” practices in the world of M&A. This highly interactive event is designed to provide M&A education and practical application through roundtable discussions, thought leadership from expert panelists, and focused networking to connect leaders from across the country. Join us in Savannah, Georgia, April 27-28. Click here to learn more!
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THE ZWEIG LETTER NOVEMBER 7, 2022, ISSUE 1464
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