Engineering Services Acquisitions in North Carolina

Stratus Team, LLC has acquired Stewart, a Raleigh-based multidisciplinary engineering, planning, landscape architecture, surveying, and design firm. The acquisition expands Stratus' structural engineering and landscape architecture capabilities and strengthens its footprint across the Carolinas and the broader Southeast.

Salas O’Brien has merged with AME Consulting Engineers, a North Carolina-based MEP, fire protection, and technology engineering firm, to strengthen its capabilities across federal, municipal, healthcare, aviation, and education markets. AME brings more than 30 team members and deep experience in complex facility renovations, while the deal expands Salas O’Brien’s technical capacity and regional presence.

I&S Group (ISG), a 100% ESOP architecture and engineering firm, has acquired Lift Environmental Design, a Durham-based landscape architecture and planning studio led by Jesse Turner. The acquisition expands ISG’s landscape architecture and environmental design capabilities in North Carolina’s Research Triangle and adds a new Durham office to support K–12, higher education, sports/recreation and civic projects.

ZenaTech, a Vancouver-based AI drone and Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) provider, has acquired Morgan Surveying, Inc., a Greensboro, North Carolina land surveying firm. The acquisition expands ZenaTech's DaaS footprint in the U.S. Southeast and strengthens its capability to pursue government and commercial surveying contracts.

Atwell, a national consulting, engineering and construction services firm, has acquired the operations of Capital Civil Engineering (CCE) in Apex, North Carolina. The deal expands Atwell's presence in North Carolina and the Southeast while adding CCE's civil engineering, site planning and stormwater management capabilities to Atwell's platform.

Stratus Team, a Brightstar Capital Partners-backed integrated engineering and architecture platform, has acquired Kilian Engineering, a North Carolina-based MEP/FA design firm. The add-on expands Stratus' mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire alarm capabilities and broadens its delivery footprint across the Southeast U.S.

ISG, a 100% employee-owned architecture, engineering, environmental, and planning firm, has acquired JDAVIS, a multi-disciplinary design firm with offices in Raleigh, North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The acquisition expands ISG’s geographic footprint into North Carolina and Pennsylvania and strengthens its residential and mixed-use design capabilities across architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, planning, and procurement management.

Applied Technical Services (ATS) has purchased substantially all of the assets of Amphion Analytical Engineering, P.A., a Charlotte-based engineering and analytical services firm. The acquisition adds API certifications, additional licensed Professional Engineers and mechanical integrity capabilities to ATS, and expands ATS's presence in the tire manufacturing, chemical, and pharmaceutical end markets; the new team will be led by Mark Ellis.

Ardurra Group Inc., a Littlejohn-backed engineering and consulting platform, has acquired W.K. Dickson & Co., a 225-person multidisciplinary infrastructure consulting firm headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The add-on expands Ardurra's presence in the Southeastern United States and augments its capabilities in airport planning, water resources, civil infrastructure and environmental services.

SAM, a provider of spatial data and Managed Geospatial Services, has acquired Theorem Geo, a Charlotte-based utility-focused GIS consulting and engineering support firm. The acquisition strengthens SAM's Managed Geospatial Services offerings and adds Theorem Geo's geospatial technology (including CartoVid) and utility-focused professional services to SAM's portfolio.

Flexware Innovation, a Hitachi group company, acquired Castle Hill Technologies on July 31, 2024 to strengthen its life sciences engineering and automation capabilities and expand operations in North Carolina. Castle Hill will continue to be led by President Robin Lowery and will complement Flexware and JR Automation with expertise in process automation, validation, owner's rep services and system integration.

NV5 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVEE) has acquired Fluhrer Reed, a Research Triangle structural and forensics engineering firm founded in 1999. The acquisition expands NV5’s structural engineering and forensics capabilities in North Carolina and complements its mechanical, electrical, plumbing and technology design offerings for building projects.

McKim & Creed, an employee‑owned engineering and surveying firm, has acquired Matchpoint Water Asset Management, the largest U.S. water loss/recovery and leak detection company. The acquisition, finalized October 16, will integrate Matchpoint's monitoring, leak detection, GIS and UAV‑based assessment capabilities into McKim & Creed's engineering, modeling and instrumentation services to offer turnkey water infrastructure solutions.

H.I.G. Infrastructure, an investment fund managed by H.I.G. Capital, has completed the acquisition of Tower Engineering Professionals (TEP) from Prairie Capital V. TEP, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, is a multi-discipline engineering and maintenance services provider to tower, mobile network and telecom infrastructure customers across the U.S. and Canada; Audax Private Debt provided second-lien financing to support the transaction.

CHA Consulting, Inc. has acquired Frazier Engineering, a Charlotte-area civil engineering firm specializing in sewer system assessment, flow monitoring, rehabilitation design and construction management. The 45-employee firm will be rebranded as CHA Consulting, Inc. and expand CHA’s water/wastewater capabilities and geographic footprint across the Southeast.

NV5 Global, Inc. acquired Geodynamics LLC for $42 million (including an earn-out) in a cash-and-stock deal to expand NV5's geospatial services into full-ocean depth hydrographic and geophysical surveying. Geodynamics, headquartered in Morehead City, North Carolina, will operate within NV5's Geospatial vertical to support projects for NOAA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Navy and other government and port/transportation clients.

Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. acquired Metallurgical Technologies, Inc. (Met-Tech), a Mooresville, North Carolina metallurgical analysis and testing laboratory, in a deal that closed February 14, 2020. The acquisition expands Rimkus's forensic materials engineering and laboratory testing capabilities to better serve insurance companies, law firms, corporations and government clients.