Granite Construction has acquired LiquiForce as part of a strategic plan to diversify and grow its business. More than a 100 employees of the privately owned company, which serves public and private water and wastewater customers in the US and Canada, will transfer to Granite's team. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Granite’s 2018 earnings per share.
Going forward, LiquiForce will continue to operate from offices in Kingsville, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, and Romulus. It provides a range of underground contracting services including lateral liner rehabilitation, mainline Cured-in-Place Pipe (CIPP), project management, manhole rehabilitation and mainline point repairs.
James H. Roberts, president and chief executive officer of Granite, said: “The addition of LiquiForce also is in alignment with our recent announcement to acquire Layne Christensen. As we consolidate and grow our position in the attractive water and wastewater sector, Granite has significant opportunities to capture a larger share of the market and accelerate our growth prospects. These strategic transactions represent a combination of complementary organizations which create a platform for growth, delivering meaningful benefits for shareholders, employees, and customers. We expect value creation for shareholders in both the near- and long-term, including earnings accretion and synergy realization.
“This deal highlights some of the exciting opportunities for profitable growth ahead for Granite. We are proud to add a deep bench of trenchless and CIPP industry veterans who have developed industry leading technology. Combined with our existing Kenny Underground business, the LiquiForce addition provides a highly complementary set of trenchless rehabilitation solutions and expertise to Granite's existing portfolio, allowing us to better serve clients.”
“Importantly, LiquiForce is a company that not only complements our customer and project portfolio, it also shares Granite’s values. Employees will have opportunities to grow into new roles and learn about new businesses as part of a larger, more diversified company. Together we will profitably grow our business, across geographies, delivering a broadening portfolio of services and the high-quality products and services that Granite and LiquiForce clients have come to expect”, Roberts added.
