The Canadian engineering firm Stantec has agreed to buy Maple Plain-based Wenck. Terms were not disclosed.
The deal, which will close Dec. 31, will give the publicly traded Stantec a 35-year-old Minnesota-based environmental-engineering firm with 300 employees and expertise in air- and water-quality permitting, soil remediation, wastewater treatment, food processing, natural resources, and infrastructure engineering solutions.
The agreement will add to Stantec's environmental-services team in the U.S. Midwest, a region that is growing rapidly amid ongoing energy, mining, manufacturing, transportation and construction projects, despite the pandemic.
Wenck's employees are expected to become members of Stantec's staff engineers, scientists, project managers and designers.
Stantec is based in Edmonton, Alberta, and has an office with 175 workers in downtown, Minneapolis. It has 22,000 workers worldwide.
"Wenck and Stantec share a client-focused, expert service, and entrepreneurial culture," said Gord Johnston, Stantec's chief executive. "We have worked with Wenck across multiple business lines over many years, and we're actively collaborating on several projects currently. While Wenck complements our current suite of markets and sectors, they fill important gaps in expertise, services, geography and clients."
Wenck is known for its environmental and design work on Palmer's Creek Wind Farm in Granite Falls, the Fridley Civic Center stormwater reuse project and the Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions' biochar and iron sand filtration efforts.
Wenck's air-quality and process-engineering teams are expected to help Stantec grow across both the United States and Canada, Johnston said.
Wenck's solid-waste and private-development teams will expand Stantec's presence in Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Georgia. Wenck's water-resources, mining and environmental-remediation capabilities will increase Stantec's presence in its existing North Central, Mountain, and Southeast regions of the country.
Wenck Chief Executive Rod Ambrosie said the deal works well for both firms.
"By integrating into a global company network, this acquisition provides new opportunities for both our employees and clients," Ambrosie said in a statement.
It is not clear what role, if any, Ambrosie might take at Stantec after the acquisition goes through.
Dee DePass • 612-673-7725
