Colliers adds top-tier firm to Canadian engineering platform
Rhea-AI Summary
Positive
- Expansion of Englobe's geographical footprint and capabilities in Western Canada
- Addition of 65 skilled professionals to the team
- Strategic enhancement in the water resources sector
- Retention and alignment of Higher Ground's management through equity ownership
- Second successful follow-on acquisition since 2024, showing execution of growth strategy
Negative
- Financial terms not disclosed, limiting assessment of deal value and impact
Insights
Colliers expands Canadian engineering platform through strategic acquisition of Higher Ground Consulting, enhancing water resources capabilities in Western Canada.
This acquisition represents Colliers' second follow-on investment in Englobe since establishing their partnership in 2024, demonstrating consistent execution of their growth strategy in professional services beyond their traditional real estate operations.
Through this transaction, Englobe adds 65 professionals with multidisciplinary engineering expertise focused on Alberta and British Columbia markets, particularly strengthening their presence in Calgary. The acquisition specifically enhances capabilities in the water resources sector, which the company identifies as strategically attractive.
The deal follows Colliers' partnership model where Higher Ground's management team becomes shareholders of Englobe, creating alignment between the acquired leadership and the parent company. This ownership structure helps address a common post-acquisition challenge in professional services firms: retaining key talent and maintaining client relationships.
While financial terms weren't disclosed—typical for smaller tuck-in acquisitions in professional services—this transaction advances Colliers' stated goal of expanding their engineering footprint across Canada. For investors, this represents incremental progress in Colliers' diversification strategy, though the materiality to overall financial performance cannot be determined without transaction details.
The geographic expansion into Western Canada and enhancement of water resources capabilities suggests Colliers is strategically positioning Englobe to address infrastructure and environmental engineering needs across a broader Canadian market.
Acquisition enhances Englobe’s scale and capabilities
TORONTO and CALGARY, Alberta, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Colliers (NASDAQ, TSX: CIGI) announced today that its Canadian engineering platform Englobe Corporation (“Englobe”) has acquired Higher Ground Consulting Inc. (“Higher Ground”), a leading engineering consulting firm in Western Canada. Under Colliers’ unique partnership model, Higher Ground’s management team will become shareholders of Englobe and play an important leadership role going forward. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 2013, Higher Ground’s 65 professionals provide multidisciplinary engineering consulting services to private and public clients in Alberta and British Columbia, with a focus on the Greater Calgary market.
“This acquisition is our second follow-on investment in Englobe since establishing our partnership in 2024 and advances our goal to scale our footprint and expertise across Canada,” said Elias Mulamoottil, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Colliers. “The Colliers brand, partnership model, and enterprising culture continue to differentiate us and attract best-in-class firms like Higher Ground to our platform.”
“Higher Ground’s seasoned professionals bring an impressive history of solving complex problems with practical solutions that will enhance our capabilities in Western Canada, particularly in the attractive water resources sector,” said Mike Cormier, President of Englobe. “We are excited to welcome this talented group to the Englobe family.”
“Joining Englobe unlocks many strategic benefits for our key stakeholders, such as enhanced capabilities and expansion into new markets, allowing us to provide better outcomes for our clients and create more career opportunities for our employees,” said Wesley Ferris, President of Higher Ground. “A shared culture of client service excellence, employee ownership and focus on the betterment of the communities we serve made this a logical next step in our evolution.”
Colliers Contacts
Elias Mulamoottil
Co-Chief Investment Officer
(416) 960-9500
Mike Cormier
President | Englobe
(514) 281-5151
About Colliers
Colliers (NASDAQ, TSX: CIGI) is a global diversified professional services and investment management company. Operating through three industry-leading platforms – Real Estate Services, Engineering, and Investment Management – we have a proven business model, an enterprising culture, and a unique partnership philosophy that drives growth and value creation. For 30 years, Colliers has consistently delivered approximately
FAQ
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