North Vancouver engineering consultancy Dayton & Knight Ltd. is being acquired by New Zealand’s Opus International Consultants for $15 million.
Opus’ managing director David Prentice said in a release Monday that Opus’ acquisition of Dayton, which has 90 staff and branch offices in Smithers, Prince George and Abbotsford, is a strategic move to make further in-roads into the Canadian market. Following the deal, Opus will have 10 offices and 150 staff in North America.
Opus has North American offices in Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Calgary, Fredericton and Detroit, Michigan.
According to Prentice, Dayton & Knight is known for its water and wastewater design capability, its control and instrumentation consultancy and electrical design businesses in the B.C. market.
He said, “The company’s business has grown substantially over the last nine years, both in terms of revenue and profit margins and this has largely been the result of increased productivity and efficient management.”
Dayton, which was founded in 1965, is involved primarily in government-led projects in areas like biosolids management, odour control and water supply and wastewater treatment.
It has been involved in projects like Powell River’s drinking water supply improvement project; Metro Vancouver’s Annacis Island wastewater treatment plant co-digestion project and Abbotsford’s JAMES wastewater master plan.
Dayton president and CEO Sean Brophy will lead the new entity being formed out of the deal, Opus DaytonKnight Ltd. Opus’ Canadian operation will continue to be led by Chris Harrison, who is based in Vancouver.
According to BIV, Dayton is the 23rd largest engineering firm in B.C. (See “Biggest engineering firms in B.C. ” – issue 1063; March 9-15).