Forrester Group sells to Wisconsin-based Foth

Wisconsin-based Foth Infrastructure & Environment LLC has acquired the assets of The Forrester Group Inc., a Springfield environmental consulting firm with four offices in Missouri.

The subsidiary of Green Bay, Wis.-based Foth Cos., which offers engineering, environmental science and construction services, acquired The Forrester Group for an undisclosed amount in a transaction that closed May 15.

The Forrester Group, with headquarters at 605 Boonville Ave., was owned by President Ray Forrester, who co-founded the firm with wife Rachel in 1994. The firm employs 25 and also has offices in St. Louis, Kansas City and Jefferson City.

Forrester said he will retain ownership of the Boonville Avenue building, which will be leased to Foth. ForresterTech LLC, another business owned by Forrester and operated by his sons and son-in-law, has moved to a 6,000-square-foot office at 606 W. McDaniel St.

The Forrester Group, which had 2008 annual revenues of about $4 million, offers services ranging from litigation support to sustainability consulting to compliance permitting, but about 50 percent of the firm's business centers on the investigation and remediation of contaminated sites, most of which fall into the brownfields category.

Brownfields are typically abandoned or underused industrial or commercial properties where redevelopment is complicated by environmental contamination. The Forrester Group also has consulted with clients on Superfund sites, which is the name given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to toxic waste dumps.

In spring 2008, Forrester decided to put his firm up for sale and enlisted the services of Springfield accounting firm BKD LLP. He said the move was part of a transitional retirement plan he'd been contemplating for some time.

By fall, Forrester had found the "optimal candidate" in Foth.

"Foth is employee-owned and in a very strong cash position," Forrester said. "They've been doing great in spite of the economy."

The interest was mutual; both companies promptly entered into exclusive negotiations and had signed a letter of intent by Dec. 31, Forrester said.

Foth CEO Tim Weyenberg said The Forrester Group is the fourth firm his company has acquired in the last five years, but the circumstances surrounding this acquisition were unique: "This is the first time a company found us," Weyenberg said.

After a visit to Springfield to meet with Forrester and his senior management team, Weyenberg said Foth officials realized The Forrester Group was a good fit - from both a cultural and logistical perspective. He said Foth was particularly interested in Forrester's litigation support practice, which includes expert witness and report services as well as trial preparation assistance.

Through his agreement with Foth, Forrester will stay with on with the company for at least three years as a project director with Foth Infrastructure & Environment, which primarily serves municipalities in the north-central United States. Forrester said he would focus on growing the litigation support division and cultivating Foth's U.S. client base, which includes municipalities in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. Forrester said there's always the chance he might stay on with Foth after he's fulfilled his contractual obligations. "If I'm still having fun, I'll keep working," he said.

Weyenberg said Foth, which also is the parent company of Foth Product Solutions LLC and Foth Asset Management LLC, has every intention of continuing its aggressive growth.

From 2001-08, the company tripled its annual sales to $115 million, he said, noting that most of the growth has been organic. Mergers and acquisitions accounted for about 25 percent of the growth, Weyenberg added.

Foth last acquired Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Engineering Alliance Inc., a 27-employee transportation and civil engineering firm, in late 2007. The company's goal is to retain all acquired employees and clients for three years, Weyenberg said. No Forrester Group employees lost their jobs when the firm changed hands.

"Our growth strategy when it comes to acquisitions is to look for very high-quality companies, and we found one in the Forrester Group," Weyenberg said.

With the acquisition, Foth now has about 650 employees. Outside of Missouri, its offices are in Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Madison, Wis.; Champaign and Peoria, Ill.; Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Florham Park, N.J.; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Kansas City, Kansas; and Washington, D.C.[[In-content Ad]]