Brue ends Carl Bro investment

The deal will see Grontmij own 98.86% of Carl Bro for €137m in cash plus 400,000 newly issued shares, which means Brue will own 6.1% of Grontmij, which is listed on the Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam. It reported sales of €194m and operating profit of €9.8m for the first six months of this year.

Brue, which is headquartered in Gothenberg, invested in Brue in October 2001. The firms’ CEO and president Mikael Nachemson said: “During our ownership, we have focused on a restructuring and a turn-around of Carl Bro. Furthermore, the company has consolidated its market positions and evolved into a leading engineering consultancy with good profitability. I see a powerful industrial logic in the transaction, which will create opportunities for both companies to further enhance their market offerings. Together with Grontmij, Carl Bro is now building a platform for continued profitable growth.”

Carl Bro is a Danish engineering consultancy, and this transaction will see the newly-formed company ranked number five among Europe’s engineering consultants, measured by turnover. The combined turnover will amount to some €720m, and the company will have around 7,000 employees. The Carl Bro name is to be retained and the Danish CEO has been offered a position in Grontmij’s management board.