La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec invests $200 million in WSP as part of the acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff

MONTRÉAL, Sept. 3, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec ("La Caisse") today announced a $200-million equity investment in WSP Global Inc. ("WSP") (TSX: WSP), a global engineering leader, formerly known as GENIVAR.

As announced earlier today by WSP, this investment is tied to the acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff Group Inc. ("Parsons Brinckerhoff"), the professional services division of Balfour Beatty plc, an American engineering firm with close to 13,500 employees in 170 offices worldwide. In addition to substantially enhancing WSP's presence in the United States, the acquisition will enable the firm to deepen its expertise in the transportation sector, in which Parsons Brinckerhoff is an international player.

"As a long-term investor, La Caisse continues to support WSP's growth strategy, initiated in 2011," said Luc Houle, Interim Executive Vice-President, Québec at La Caisse. "With this investment, La Caisse will help advance the Québec firm's position as a world leader in engineering, while generating attractive returns for our clients."

"By increasing its interest in WSP, La Caisse is enabling a Québec company to carve out an enviable position in its industry and establish itself as a global player," said Pierre Shoiry, President and Chief Executive Officer of WSP. "This investment is a reflection of the confidence La Caisse has in our firm and our growth strategy. And we are very proud to have earned this confidence."  

Over the last three years, La Caisse made investments totalling close to $220 million to enhance the firm's growth. The $420 million invested to date has enabled WSP to broaden its presence on all continents and strengthen its positioning in global markets.  

ABOUT WSP
WSP is one of the world's leading professional services firms, working with governments, businesses, architects and planners and providing integrated solutions across many disciplines. The firm provides services to transform the built environment and restore the natural environment, and its expertise ranges from environmental remediation to urban planning, from engineering iconic buildings to designing sustainable transport networks, and from developing the energy sources of the future to enabling new ways of extracting essential resources. It has approximately 17,500 employees, mainly engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors, other design professionals, as well as various environmental experts, based in more than 300 offices, across 30 countries, on 5 continents. www.wspgroup.com

ABOUT LA CAISSE DE DÉPÔT ET PLACEMENT DU QUÉBEC
La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at June 30, 2014, it held $214.7 billion in net assets. As one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, La Caisse invests in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate, globally. For more information: www.lacaisse.com.

SOURCE: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec