CH2M Hill boss says Halcrow was a ‘good buy’

The boss of CH2M Hill has defended the firm’s decision to pay £124m for Halcrow despite its financial woes.

Last week, it emerged that engineer Halcrow was £71m in the red in the year it was bought by US giant CH2M Hill.

Accounts filed at Companies House, six months late, showed the firm had net liabilities of £177m in the year to 31 December 2011 down from net assets of £25m the previous year, driven by a mounting pension liability of £180m.

The president of CH2M Hill’s international division, Jacque Hinman (pictured), told Building this week that it was nevertheless a good decision to pay £124m for the struggling UK engineer.

She said: “It was well known within the industry that Halcrow had marketplace challenges prior to its acquisition by CH2M Hill in November 2011. Its results for 2011 are simply the final snapshot of this period in its history.”

“CH2M Hill acquired Halcrow based on its excellent technical reputation, experience base, and strong client and project portfolio around the world, as well as its highly skilled people, who have been fully integrated into CH2M Hill.”

Halcrow had seen its pensions liability grow from £65m in 2010 to £180m in 2011, but Hinman said the parent firm was now taking steps to support the pension scheme.

She said: “Since the acquisition the previously agreed payment schedule has been honoured every month including the planned uplift in contributions in 2012 and 2013.”

But Stephen Brichieri-Colombi, chairman of the Halcrow Pensioners Association, said he was sceptical about the effectiveness of CH2M Hill’s efforts to bolster the pension scheme.

He said: “We have no way of knowing what the contributions to the Halcrow pension scheme from CH2M Hill have been since 31 December 2011, since the triennial valuation report of the Halcrow pension scheme, due (by law) by 31 March at the latest, has not been published.”

She said: “Since the acquisition the previously agreed payment schedule has been honoured every month including the planned uplift in contributions in 2012 and 2013.”

But Stephen Brichieri-Colombi, chairman of the Halcrow Pensioners Association, was sceptical about the effectiveness of CH2M Hill’s efforts to bolster the pensions scheme.

He said: “We have no way of knowing what the contributions to the Halcrow Pension Scheme from CH2 Hill have been since 31 December 2011, since the triennial valuation report of the Halcrow Pension Scheme, due (by law) by 31 March at the latest,  has not been published.”

To read the full interview with Jacque Hinman click here