The New Year off to a Strong Start for M&A Activity

29 transactions booked for January; includes GPD Group’s recent acquisition of Jester Jones Schifer Architects which was initiated by PSMJ

With a new year comes new energy and, as such, January is often one of the busier months of the year for M&A announcements. However, according to data from the A/E M&A consultants at PSMJ Resources, Inc., 29 transactions were announced last month and that could be a positive indication of what is to come in 2011.

“January was certainly a busy month. If we keep this up, we could be getting back to pre-recession levels fairly quickly.” comments Gregory Hart, a consultant on PSMJ’s M&A advisory team. “Simply put, we are just seeing more activity and energy on both sides of the transaction. Buyers are looking to put some of their capital to use in acquisitive growth and more and more sellers are seeing the opportunity to either create liquidity or capture growing market share with more resources from a larger player or even a little bit of both.”

One deal that took place last month was the acquisition of Jester Jones Schifer Architects (Marion, OH) by multi-disciplinary GPD Group (Akron, OH). This move allows GPD Group to continue to strengthen its footprint in the Ohio market and bring architecture capabilities to an even broader client base. Jester Jones Schifer has been providing architectural services for more than 30 years.

“We are very pleased that Jester Jones Schifer Architects is now part of GPD Group. Their expertise and project management are well respected within the architectural community, we’re excited about our future together.” said David B. Granger, P.E., President of GPD Group.

PSMJ initiated this transaction and advised GPD Group. According to Brad Wilson, Senior Consultant for PSMJ and the lead consultant working on this transaction “This really was a win-win transaction. GPD continues to gain a deeper presence in the Ohio market and Jester Jones Schifer now brings a full range of architecture and engineering resources to its client base.”


About GPD Group: With locations in Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Arizona, and Washington, GPD Group specializes in providing engineering and architecture services for a wide range of clients. Markets that the company serves include community facilities, education, housing, parks and recreation, power distribution, public works, retail, commercial, site development, telecommunications, transportation, and wireless systems.