Business and Finance

Great Lakes D&D Acquires Terra Contracting

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) has acquired the assets of Terra Contracting LLC for approximately $20 million. Terra is an environmental services provider operating within the United States. One area of particular expertise is in sediment removal and remediation on major river projects.

Headquartered in Kalamazoo Michigan Terra employs approximately 200 engineering operations and administrative staff and serves customers in more than 30 states in the environmental infrastructure energy industrial transportation wastewater and construction sectors. Terra’s services include the removal and remediation of contaminated sediment soil and groundwater; Superfund site clean-ups; hazardous waste removal and brownfield site restoration; facility and equipment decontamination and decommissioning; tank cleaning; hazardous materials abatement; emergency response services; and municipal utility sewer and wastewater infrastructure maintenance inspection and refurbishment.

Great Lakes CEO Jon Berger said “The Terra acquisition fits our strategic vision to gain a stronger foothold in the environmental remediation market. Terra will broaden our demolition segment with additional services and expertise as well as expand our footprint in the Midwest. Terra reinforces our efforts to develop relationships with larger industrial and governmental clients. Additionally our rivers and lakes operations can leverage Terra’s environmental remediation focus to accelerate its participation in the environmental dredging market.”

President and COO Bruce Biemeck stated “With Terra comes a seasoned highly knowledgeable and experienced management team including owner Steve Taplin all of whom are excited to team with Great Lakes to grow the environmental remediation business. We look forward to working with the Terra team to leverage our combined technical expertise and expanded asset base to broaden the Great Lakes footprint and market reach in this strategic market sector while providing Terra with the resources and financial capability to grow into new services and geographic regions. Steve Taplin has been named president of the new company Terra Contracting Services LLC and believes this transaction will be very positive for the company he founded in 2001.”

President Steve Taplin said “I am very proud of the success we have enjoyed in our business and attribute much of our success to the team which I have worked with over the years to build a highly respected company. Our dedicated team enjoys the challenges of the business but we lack the resources to continue our growth. In the best interest of our team and their desire to grow I have made this decision to ensure continuing opportunities for our team and the ability to continue to work together to further expand our business. The transaction has been a very good experience as it enabled me to meet and get to know the Great Lakes team which is a professional and highly motivated group much like Terra. We look forward to the opportunities ahead and are ready to dig in and grow with Great Lakes.”