Professional services WYG is on course to be acquired by an American firm in deal worth over £43 million.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the global programme, project management and technical consultancy – which has an office in Cumbria – said an agreement between its board and its counterparts at Californian-based Tetra Tech UK Holdings Limited had reached on a deal worth around £43.4 million.

The deal will see Tetra Tech acquire all of WYG’s 78,941,048 shares. Each WYG shareholder will receive 55 pence in cash per share.

Directors at WYG – who described the price as “fair and reasonable” – said they will recommend unanimously that its shareholders vote in favour of the deal, which is expected to become effective in July 2019.

WYG issued a profit warning in February this year, with Brexit-fuelled “cautious business sentiment and political uncertainty” delaying investment decisions and impacting on its consultancy business in the UK, in which its Cockermouth office plays a key role.

Its balance sheet also took a £3m hit last year due to the closure of Carlisle-based North Associates – a property consultancy which it bought in a deal worth up to £5m in October 2015.

And while it said there had been a “steady improvement” in profitable work internationally, margins remained lower than those generated in the UK.

Jeremy Beeton, non-executive chairman of WYG, said the Tetra Tech acquisitions would help to strengthen its financial performance and proposition to clients.

“We believe the combination of our two companies will provide greater opportunities for our people and clients, as well as offering certainty of immediate value to our shareholders at a considerable premium to the prevailing share price,” he said.

“Becoming part of the Tetra Tech Group enables benefits of scale and access to expertise across highly complementary geographies and client relationships, and brings operational infrastructure and financial strength to support WYG's long term growth ambitions.

“We provide Tetra Tech with a strong platform for investing in growth in the UK and Europe,” he added.

Chairman and chief executive of Tetra Tech, Dan Batrack, said: “WYG advances our strategy to add firms that support our position as the premier global high-end consulting, engineering, and program management firm. 

“WYG's expertise in infrastructure and program management, as well as water and environmental services, enables us to deliver innovative solutions to support the UK's infrastructure needs. Together, we will be able to provide an expanded scope of services to our customers and offer our combined staff even greater professional opportunities.”

WYG’s Cumbria office is based at Lakeland Business Park in Cockermouth.

It was recently buoyed by the award of a multi-million contract to its Nuclear Decommissioning Ltd (NDL) joint venture – which also includes Shepley Engineers Ltd, REACT Engineering and James Fisher Nuclear Ltd – to support the ongoing decommissioning of the Dounreay nuclear site in Scotland.

NDL will provide multidisciplinary services ranging from civil and structural engineering to design, architecture and project management, to support the clean-up and demolition of Britain’s former centre of fast reactor research and development.