Great Lakes Dredge & Dock buys Terra Contracting
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock buying Terra Contracting for $20 million
OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) -- Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. said Wednesday that it has acquired environmental services company Terra Contracting LLC for roughly $20 million.
The Oak Brook, Ill.-based dredging services company said the deal will give it a stronger foothold in the environmental remediation market and broaden its demolition business, as well as help it expand geographically.
Terra Contracting, based in Kalamazoo, Mich., has 200 employees that will join Great Lakes.
Terra owner Steven Taplin, who founded the company in 2001, has been named president of the renamed Terra Contracting Services LLC which will operate as a subsidiary of Great Lakes.
Taplin said he made the decision to sell the business as it was successful but lacked the resources it needed to grow on its own.
Great Lakes said the acquisition is expected to add approximately $20 million to its year-end 2012 backlog, excluding project option opportunities.
Great Lakes shares rose 60 cents, or 6.7 percent, to $9.53 in afternoon trading after rising as high as $9.61 earlier in the session, its highest level since June 2007.
