Beca and water industry specialist Hunter H2O join forces

Beca, one of the leading employee owned engineering and professional services firms in the Asia Pacific, has agreed to join forces with New South Wales based Hunter H2O to create one of Australasia’s leading water industry consultancies.

Beca will acquire Hunter H2O’s shares, and many of Hunter H2O’s employees will become Beca shareholders, continuing the employee-owned culture of both organisations. The transaction will be completed at the end of April.

The new Beca Australian water business, to be known as Beca HunterH2O, will provide clients with access to more than 300 water technical specialists across the Asia Pacific. In addition to Beca’s already strong Victorian water presence, Beca will now have offices in Newcastle, Tamworth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Fiji, all backed by 500-strong multidisciplinary employees in Australia and the 3,800 people in the wider Beca Group.

Headquartered in Newcastle, Hunter H2O is an employee-owned specialist water industry consultancy formed in 2014 to provide professional engineering and project management services. Hunter H2O is well known for its industry leading strength in process engineering and its work in regional areas and the Pacific supporting heathy and sustainable communities.  

Beca Managing Director – Australia, Craig Lee, said “The strong capability offering created through the combination of Beca and Hunter H2O, as well as the clear cultural alignment between the two organisations, was a key driver for the acquisition.”

“We share similar philosophies and ambitions and together we can bring formidable capabilities, capacity and scale to provide exceptional services to water clients across Asia-Pacific. We very much look forward to welcoming the Hunter H2O team to Beca,” Craig said.

“We share similar philosophies and ambitions and together we can bring formidable capabilities, capacity and scale to provide exceptional services to water clients across Asia-Pacific" - Craig Lee

Hunter H2O Managing Director, Peter Dennis, said “It was important to us to find an owner that aligned with our ways of working and culture. We’re proud of the strong reputation we have built in the water sector and wanted to ensure our legacy would continue under the merged business.”

“Beca has clearly grown a strong reputation in the Victorian water sector, and I believe the combined capability of our two teams will position us well in the market,” Peter said.

Hunter H2O will form a new Beca Water business line in Australia, combining their team of around 135 people with Beca’s Victorian team of around 30 and growing the Beca Group water business across Australia and New Zealand. 

Group Director Utilities, Clive Rundle, said “Merging the capability of Beca with Hunter H2O’s specialist water teams creates a new force of water to support our clients – we will truly be better together – it’s great for the industry and for our people.”

“Our combined international capability in delivering full asset life cycle solutions across New Zealand, Australia’s East Coast and the Pacific gives us the breadth of expertise to deliver the solutions we know are needed to solve the water challenges we are all facing over next decade and beyond,” Clive said. The combined strength of Beca and Hunter H2O continues Beca’s purpose to make everyday better for clients and the communities in which Beca operates.

“Merging the capability of Beca with Hunter H2O’s specialist water teams creates a new force of water to support our clients – we will truly be better together" - Clive Rundle

Once the transaction is complete at the end of April 2022, the Beca and Hunter H2O group will offer industry leading expertise in water, wastewater and stormwater management. The combined expertise of the water teams will give access to some of the best minds in master planning and advisory services through to civil, mechanical, electrical and control system design, as well as project management and commissioning, backed by strong front-line experience in water utility operations and training.