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News Release -- San Diego, Calif. -- After a dip in 2009, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the environmental industry almost fully recovered in 2010 and appears to be accelerating in 2011, according to a new edition of Environmental Business Journal (EBJ). Valuations are equal or close to the levels targeted before the downturn in several segments.

Purchase this 24-page edition (20,000 words; 10 charts) for $150

Environmental Consulting & Engineering
In the environmental C&E segment, deal activity in 2011 is expected to return to the high watermark levels of 2007-2008. Large, multidisciplinary engineering firms and many mid-size firms are on acquisition campaigns armed with large volumes of cash due to slower internal growth combined with high levels of profitability. Drivers include:

• Global recession, which has encouraged geographic diversification and global scale;
• Client demand for service from one stop shops; and
• High level of cash in the system for both private equity firms and strategic buyers.

According to EBJ research, firms with environmental C&E revenues of $100 million or more have grown from 23 in 1990 to 44 in 2009 and from 34% to 65% of the market.

Waste Management
Deal activity is elevated in the waste management sector as companies add recycling capabilities or broaden services and geographies. Segment leader Waste Management, Inc. has been especially active in investing in companies with technologies focused on the reprocessing of organic wastes and other recyclable material.

• Generating value from waste streams through materials recovery and beneficial reuse has helped investors to get more comfortable with the perceived liabilities associated with handling waste and also plugs directly into the sustainability movement.

Water & Wastewater
Be ready to pay top dollar in the water segment of the environmental industry, in which deal activity is reviving after a trough during 2009, the low point of the last decade.

• Valuations have in some cases returned to the levels of the early and mid-2000s, when conglomerates like Pentair, GE Water, and Siemens were picking up companies for lofty premiums.
• Also prompting M&A activity is the explosion in shale gas exploration and production (E&P), with its associated water treatment and disposal challenges.

Analytical Laboratories
Even the environmental laboratory sector is back in consolidation mode after a few years of relative inactivity.

• By contrast with water companies, valuations of analytical laboratory companies haven't rocketed sharply upward but are stable at 3.5 to 5X EBITDA.

Purchase this edition ($150) to access list of M&A deals, charts, data and opinion from Environmental Financial Consulting Group, TechKNOWLEDGEy Strategic Group, Rusk O'Brien Gido + Partners, Lazard Middle Market, SmartRisk, Houlihan Lokey, ZweigWhite, plus EBJ analysis and profiles of Stantec, Golder, Pennoni, Tailwind Capital/Apex, AEA, Kleinfelder, JFNew, S&ME, Weston & Sampson, Parsons and more.

Environmental Business Journal® (EBJ) is the leading source of business intelligence in the environmental industry. EBJ provides a strategic overview and an independent perspective on market trends and business strategy in a monthly publication. EBJ has been published since 1988 by Environmental Business International, Inc., an independent business research company.

For interviews or further information contact:
Grant Ferrier, President, EBI Inc., 619-295-7685 x 15