International consultancy WSP has struck a deal to purchase Ricardo. The move for the London-listed firm will conclude for £281 million.
Founded over a century ago, Ricardo is a UK-headquartered professional services firm focused on the engineering and construction space. Operating in 20 countries, with some 2,700 staff, the firm has been undergoing a sustained reorganisation to concentrate more on environmental, energy and rail work.
WSP a Canada-headquartered global engineering group with over 73,000 professionals worldwide – and has recently committed to a campaign of international purchases to strengthen its offering. As Ricardo follows Lexica to become the second acquisition of 2025, Alexandre L’Heureux, president and CEO of WSP, commented that the proposed move “perfectly aligns with WSP’s vision for sustainable, compounding growth and our clear ambitions to expand in advisory, energy transition, water solutions, and the rail sector”.
L’Heureux added, “We are poised to enhance our ability to deliver innovative solutions as we combine our global reach and resources with Ricardo’s complementary expertise. Moreover, the shared entrepreneurial spirit and technical excellence between our teams position us to create further value for our clients. We look forward to welcoming Ricardo’s talented professionals to WSP and seizing new opportunities with our broadened service offering.”
According to sources at Ricardo, this is seen as an opportunity to accelerate the firm’s transformation efforts. Ricardo’s more niche automotive and industrial and performance products divisions are “likely” to be sold following the deal.
Mark Clare, chair of Ricardo, added, “Ricardo has made significant progress with its strategy to transform the business into a world leading environmental and energy transition consultancy… However, while good progress has been made, there are further steps required to complete the transformation which bring some execution risks… Against this background, WSP has made a compelling offer which represents a highly attractive premium… the Ricardo directors believe that the acquisition will provide enhanced career opportunities for Ricardo’s employees within the WSP Group as well as access for our clients to a broader service offering.”