Hill acquires Turkish project management firm

17 May 2015

Deal strengthens US firm’s position in Turkey and former Commonwealth of Independent States countries

US-based Hill International has acquired Turkish firm IMS Proje Yonetimi ve Danismanlik. The Istanbul-headquartered project management firm has about 80 professionals and will give Hill greater market access in Turkey and the former Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

Hill is a major player in the Middle East region and is looking to diversify and broaden its exposure in other markets.

“IMS was a major attraction for us,” says Raouf Ghali, chief operating officer at Hill International. “The company specialises in high-quality project management unlike other firms that provide a mixture of design and project management services.”

IMS is one of the largest project management providers in Turkey and the firm has an established private sector client base. Ghali says the upside for Hill is in the public sector because Hill can and has won work in the public sector with EU funding.

Hill has been joint venturing with IMS and winning work in CIS countries such as Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. In Kazakhstan, the two companies are working towards hosting the Expo 2017 in Astana with a Turkish developer. That involves the construction of all the venues on a turnkey basis.

The Hill/IMS joint venture is also project managing the construction of new hotels in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, and in the future, the oil and gas sector will be a key target.

“The IMS acquisition will speed up our continued growth in the CIS region,” says Ghali. “We have a proven record from our work over the past few years, so the integration will be easy.”

For now Hill will focus on integrating IMS’ business before looking at further acquisitions. “Let’s digest this one and let it flourish,” says Ghali. “Once we have this one under our belts then we could potentially look for something in the UK on the [project management] side.”

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