One of New York City’s largest engineering firms, WSP Flack + Kurtz, is the latest New York City real estate player to be impacted by the influx of foreign buyers.
In a deal set to close this month, the Canadian engineering consultancy Genivar is slated acquire the firm’s parent company, WSP.
Founded in New York in 1969, Flack + Kurtz became part of the global WSP Group in 2001 and currently has around 300 employees here. The firm’s current New York City projects include the Barclays Center arena at Atlantic Yards and the renovation of the Javits Convention Center.
Genivar made a $442 million all-cash bid for WSP in June, in a deal that is technically an acquisition, “but it is viewed a merger,” explained WSP Flack + Kurtz president David Cooper, who is based in Manhattan.
“It’s a complimentary merger — Genivar has really no presence in the New York City area, so we only see opportunity to create better synergies and bring some of [Genivar’s] expertise” here, Cooper said.
The merger will not cause the firm’s New York City office to make any personnel changes, he added.