Business

KPMG strengthens major projects team with High-Point Rendel acquisition

Purchase of international project consultancy to create a “step change” in client advice capability, explains KPMG as HPR reorganisation completes.

KPMG-HPR

Professional services giant KPMG this week bolstered is major projects advisory practice with the purchase of international consultancy business High Point Rendel.

The acquisition creates a new KPMG-HPR business to underline KPMG’s ambition to boosts its consultancy services in the expanding global infrastructure market, giving the firm greater skills across asset lifecycle from planning, delivery, operation, maintenance, disposal and renewal

“This acquisition marks a step-change for KPMG both in the UK and globally, enabling us to advise clients at every stage of their megaprojects," Richard Threlfall, KPMG

“The High-Point Rendel team has more than 40 years’ experience advising on some of the world’s largest and most high-profile projects, helping businesses to plan and avoid costly delays and over-runs,” said Richard Threlfall, Head of Infrastructure, Building and Construction at KPMG.

“This acquisition marks a step-change for KPMG both in the UK and globally, enabling us to advise clients at every stage of their megaprojects, from initial planning to final delivery and through operations and maintenance, disposal or renewal.”

The new KPMG-HPR practice will be led by High-Point Rendel chief executive Kelvin Hingley and managing director Nigel Bell, together with Gordon Shearer, partner at KPMG.  Sir Alan Cockshaw, chairman of High-Point Rendel will also advise KPMG on a consultancy basis.

The deal will see 35 staff from High-Point Rendel Ltd will mostly join KPMG’s Major Projects Advisory team, which itself has advised on large scale infrastructure projects across the UK and worldwide, including HS2 Limited.  

The acquisition draws a line under recent reorganisations in the HPR business which disposed of its civil and structural engineering division to French consultancy Ingérop in May. 

That deal created Rendel Limited which continues to provide engineering services in the bridges, geotechnical, highways, maritime and tunnelling sectors.

“The creation of KPMG-HPR will bring to project stakeholders a single organization which truly understands the business and delivery challenges and risks in major capital asset undertakings," Sir Alan Cockshaw

The remaining High-Point Rendel Ltd business now bought by KPMG provides specialist delivery, commercial, contractual, programme and risk management services to help public and private owners, investors, contractors and vendors involved with large scale global infrastructure projects.  

Its clients principally operate in the energy, transportation, and oil and gas sectors. In addition the company has an outstanding track record in the turn round of projects suffering delays and/or cost overruns.

The deal comes just weeks after the firm bought specialist change management consultant Boxwood which operates, amongst other sectors, across the infrastructure space.

“Global investment in infrastructure is growing at an exponential rate, with spend predicted to reach £45 billion in the UK during 2016 alone,” said Threlfall. “Our clients are grappling with increasingly ambitious and complex projects, which bring with them unfamiliar risks, amplified by the additional complexity that global supply chains bring.”

Sir Alan Cockshaw, Chairman of High-Point Rendel, added: “The creation of KPMG-HPR will bring to project stakeholders a single organization which truly understands the business and delivery challenges and risks in major capital asset undertakings, and the combination of expertise and experience to provide valuable solutions at any stage of a project life cycle. 

“The HPR team is extremely excited about being an important part of a composite and full service global and local offering with the clear expectation of becoming the world’s premier major project advisor.”

The High Point Rendel history 

The High Point Rendel history dates back to 1822 when James Meadows Rendel established an office in Plymouth, Devon for his first major work, the Laira Bridge in Plymouth.

Rendel later moved to London where he established an office in Great George Street, Westminster, close to the current Institution of Civil Engineers headquarters. From 1913, the company traded as the Rendel Palmer & Tritton partnership. 

In 1985 it merged with High-Point, a specialist financial, contractual and management consultancy firm founded in 1970 in Birmingham, and was incorporated as a private company, Rendels Limited.

The company became known as High-Point Rendel in 1998 and following a management buy-out in 2003, traded as High-Point Rendel Limited.

In May 2015 the civil and structural engineering assets were sold to Ingérop to form Rendel, a wholly owned subsidiary of the multi-disciplinary French company with more than 1,600 employees worldwide.

If you would like to contact Antony Oliver about this, or any other story, please email antony.oliver@infrastructure-intelligence.com.