Danish company to acquire Syracuse engineering firm OBG

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Danish engineering firm announced it has agreed to acquire Syracuse–based OBG, making it part of a new business unit covering the Americas.

The deal takes effect Jan. 1, the Ramboll Group said in a Monday news release.

OBG, previously known as O’Brien & Gere, is based in the Washington Station building at 333 W. Washington St. in Syracuse’s Armory Square.

Ramboll, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, didn’t disclose the acquisition price or any other terms of the deal. It did say that OBG investors overwhelmingly approved of the sale with more than 91 percent of OBG shares cast in favor of the deal.

With the new acquisition doubling its size in the U.S., Ramboll is establishing a new business unit for the Americas covering the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil with services in water, energy, environment and health. Jim Fox, CEO of OBG, will lead the new business unit as managing director, beginning Jan. 1.

In the deal, the Ramboll Group adds 900 employees within water, energy, environment, and advanced-manufacturing services.

With the acquisition, Ramboll now has 2,000 employees in the U.S. and 15,000 globally. Ramboll hopes the new business unit will grow from the current 2,000 employees to between 3,000 and 4,000 U.S. employees in four to five years.

At the time of the acquisition, the combined revenue of Ramboll and OBG will be $2 billion, the Danish firm said.

Besides its Syracuse headquarters, OBG has New York state offices in Clay, Binghamton, Albany, Rochester, Utica, Lindenhurst, White Plains, and New York City, according to its website. Besides New York, OBG also has offices in 10 additional states.

Reaction to deal

The acquisition of OBG is an “exciting step forward in Ramboll’s strategic ambition to grow in the U.S. and strengthen” its portfolio within water, energy and environmental services, “making Ramboll a multidisciplinary player in the U.S.,” the firm contends.

“We are very excited to be welcoming OBG’s 900 experts to Ramboll,” Jens-Peter Saul, Group CEO, said in the release. “Growing in North America has been a strategic priority for us since we established our U.S. presence in 2014 with the successful acquisition of [Arlington, Virginia–based] ENVIRON.”

With OBG, Saul contends Ramboll can build on the platform it has developed in the U.S. OBG’s Fox says the deal provides OBG the opportunity to broaden its customer base across the U.S. and globally.

“We see joining forces with Ramboll as a tremendous opportunity to widen our client base in the U.S. as well as extend our client relationships globally,” Fox said in the release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com