ABO-Group extends her geotechnical activities through the take-over of Geomet, a Dutch expert in geotechnical advice and soil research. This makes geotechnics a core business of ABO-Group in Europe.
ABO-Group made the first moves in the geotechnical market in 2008 in the Netherlands with the take-over of Goorbergh Geotechniek. With the take-over of Geomet they make a big jump forwards. Geomet is a geotechnical advice and fieldwork office with 20 employees, located in Alphen aan den Rijn. By joining forces, ABO-Group expects to make better use of the market opportunities in the Netherlands and abroad. The strong references and geotechnical experience of Geomet will contribute to the market supply of the ABO-Group activities.
ABO-Group consciously opts for the Dutch market. Since 2015 the market is showing some clear signs of recovery after several years of crisis. The expectations for the upcoming years are also positive. Frank de Palmenaer, CEO ABO-Goup: “After several years of recession, recovery is noticeable and this creates the right moment to strengthen our position in the Netherlands. We extend our presence through this take-over in the Netherlands in the high-end geotechnical services. With this combined expertise we can besides the fieldwork, also offer geotechnical advice in the most complex files. This is already the case in our other two countries Belgium and France.”
Geotechnics, accounting for approximately 50% of the consolidated group revenue, has been a core business of ABO-Group for several years. In France, the group is active in geotechnics with about 100 employees, located in offices in Toulon, Marseille, Nice, Montpellier, Lyon, Paris, Nancy and Lille. The geotechnical activities in Belgium are performed under the brand Geosonda located in offices in Gent, Aartselaar, Brussels, Hasselt and Namêche.
Financially, Geomet realised a consolidated revenue of 2,6 million euro and an EBITDA of 380.000 euro over the fiscal year 2015. The acquisition price is 1,4 million euro, with an acquisition of 1 million euro financial bank debt included. The take-over includes, besides the operational firms, also the building. The transaction is with reservation, scheduled in July. No significant impacts are expected for the results of the first six months.
ABO-Group divides her geotechnical activities in Consultancy & Engineering (= advice) and Testing & Monitoring (= fieldwork). The advice department will be part of Geomet. The geotechnical fieldwork of Geomet and Goorbergh Geotechniek (subsidiary of ABO-Group) will be centralised and gets the name Geosonda. The environmental and archaeological fieldwork remain the working area of Sialtech. These subsidiaries of ABO-Group will optimize the services by joining commercial forces of advisory and fieldwork.
The take-over facilitates a further cooperation between the geotechnical companies from France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The strong knowledge and quality driven corporate culture of Geomet fits closely with the style of ABO-Group. Geotechnical knowledge will be shared in all the local markets so that customers can make use of wider and high-end services. Geotechnics is not attached to the local law, this is an additional advantage because it makes it easier to cooperate abroad.
What is geotechnics?
Geotechnics is soil research which is used to determine the bearing strength, so that the right foundation technics can be used to build. This activity is one of the priorities of ABO-Group, they have great expertise in areas with rocks (France) as well as soft soil areas (Belgium/the Netherlands). Multiple fieldworkers and experts are from day to day active with the execution of ground mechanical tests and with advice about foundation technics and ground mechanics.
About ABO-Group
ABO-Group consists of integrated Engineering & Testing subsidiaries, active in soil, environment, geotechnics, energy and waste management. ABO-Group has the ambition to grow form inside out and through acquisitions to increase the revenue and to extend its activities in and outside of Europe. For more information, see the document on the website of ABO-Group, released on 31st of July 2014.
Source: ABO-Group
