COWI acquires major tunnel engineering company

​In cities around the world, urbanisation is rapidly increasing the demand for underground space. In order to be the preferred provider of tunnel and underground solutions worldwide, COWI has acquired Donaldson Associates Limited.

​Donaldsons is a consulting company renowned for delivering high-end geotechnical design as well as tunnel and underground engineering services. The acquisition strengthens COWI’s underground engineering expertise and widens the skill set to include caverns, hard rock, leading-edge spray concrete lining, and micro tunnelling.

Donaldsons currently employs 143 staff throughout five UK offices and one Hong Kong office. Continuing to operate as Donaldsons, the team will work together with COWI tunnel and underground centres in Denmark, Qatar, India and USA as well as developing synergies on the UK market with COWI specialist bridge subsidiary, Flint & Neill.

Complementary market coverage
Lars-Peter Søbye, CEO in COWI sees the agreement as a perfect match with numerous opportunities.

“The acquisition of Donaldson Associates is a major achievement for COWI and is in line with our growth strategy. We have complementary market coverage, and together we will be one of the world’s largest consultants in tunnel and underground engineering, offering a vast, highly qualified pool of specialists who are able to bring significant strength and expert skills to our customers around the globe. We are happy to welcome Donaldson into COWI,” says Søbye.

Remarkable cultural and strategic fit
Founder and Chairman David Donaldson emphasizes the importance of continuing the present growth as a centre of excellence in tunnelling, geotechnics and heavy civil engineering in the UK and highlights great opportunities for Donaldsons to accelerate growth internationally.

“The union between COWI and Donaldson Associates brings together two companies with shared values whose joint expertise and experience in engineering has created an expanded centre of design excellence. Our two companies have a remarkable cultural and strategic fit that has facilitated a seamless integration of Donaldsons into COWI’s widely acclaimed and highly respected international business profile. It gives me great personal satisfaction that all of Donaldsons’ staff and management structure have been absorbed unchanged into COWI’s established structure,” says Donaldson.