{"id":33150,"date":"2025-11-09T09:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T17:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wsp-downplays-ma-rumors-government-shutdown\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T09:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T17:47:12","slug":"wsp-downplays-ma-rumors-government-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wsp-downplays-ma-rumors-government-shutdown\/","title":{"rendered":"WSP downplays M&#038;A rumors, government shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725\" alt=\"-\"><br \/>\n        Listen to the article<br \/>\n        <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">4 min<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/text-to-speech.divecdn.com\/newspost\/804984\/2025-11-07_09.46.27\/wsp-q3-earnings-merger-acquisition-shutdown-rumor.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The current government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, has had a \u201cminimal impact\u201d on the business of Montreal-based builder WSP, said CEO Alexandre L\u2019Heureux during the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsp.com\/en-gl\/investors\/presentations-and-events\/wsp-q3-2025-results\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>contractor\u2019s Q3 earnings call<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> Thursday.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>But he also noted that it can\u2019t go on forever, lest the industry as a whole \u2014 not just WSP \u2014 feel the heat.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cIf it was to go on for another month or two, I mean, clearly, the entire industry will suffer from this,\u201d L\u2019Heureux told investors and analysts during the call.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Myriad potential consequences have made the industry nervous \u2014 projects that rely entirely on federal dollars, for example, could <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/government-shutdown-federal-construction-projects\/761465\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>face a stoppage on work<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> the government needs to monitor or approve, experts told Construction Dive in September.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cFor now, good,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said. \u201cMore color to be provided in Q4 at the end when and if we are not seeing any further improvement in that regard.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Despite the shutdown, L\u2019Heureux doubled down on the company\u2019s commitment to the North American construction market, which <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/wsp-earnings-mergers-acquisitions-tariffs\/747634\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>echoed his earlier pronouncements<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> during the company\u2019s Q1 earnings call on May 8.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cCertainly, despite all the noise that we hear and the tension between our two countries, Canada and the U.S., WSP, we believe that one, if not the best place to do work and business in our space is North America,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said. \u201cWe continue to be focused on North America.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><span><span>M&amp;A momentum<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>L\u2019Heureux also took care to address potential future M&amp;A moves that WSP could make. In response to an analyst question about whether the outlook on M&amp;A is showing improvement, L\u2019Heureux mentioned the firm\u2019s willingness to leverage its balance sheet.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cAs you can imagine, we are in a very solid position,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said. \u201cI would like, obviously, to continue to use our balance sheet and use the position of strength that we&#8217;re in, given our diversified platform, to be opportunistic and continue to grow platform.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>M&amp;A activity has <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/zachry-construction-acquires-water-infrastructure-firm\/801955\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>increased as contractors<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> and <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/openspace-acquires-disperse-contech-merger\/804410\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>contech firms make deals<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> for strategic gains. WSP is no stranger to the practice \u2014 during the firm\u2019s previous three-year strategic cycle, it <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/wsp-instability-trump-earnings\/741203\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>made 15 acquisitions<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> and added about 20,000 people to its headcount.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>L\u2019Heureux also took time to address rumors about WSP\u2019s potential future acquisitions. On Oct. 24, StreetInsider reported that the company tendered an offer to <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/wsp-jacobs-merger-deal-report\/803913\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>buy Dallas-based construction giant Jacobs<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cI do not think anyone should be surprised because I am probably the biggest supporter and avid supporter of consolidation in our industry,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said. \u201cI am not surprised that our name is being thrown around with possible rumors. Obviously, I am not going to comment on those rumors. I was a big proponent of our model 10 years ago, and I continue to be.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The news came following its <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsp.com\/en-gb\/news\/2025\/wsp-completes-acquisition-of-ricardo-plc-a-global-strategic-and-engineering-consultancy-firm\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>acquisitions of U.K.-based engineering firm Ricardo<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> on Oct. 9, alongside <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsp.com\/en-gb\/news\/2025\/wsp-acquires-specialist-healthcare-and-life-sciences-consulting-firm-lexica\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>healthcare and life sciences consulting firm Lexica<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> on June 2.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><span><span>The numbers<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsp.com\/en-us\/news\/2025\/wsp-reports-q3-2025-results\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>WSP reported revenues<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> of 4.53 billion Canadian dollars ($3.2 billion) in the third quarter, up 13.8% from CA$3.98 billion in Q3 2024. It also saw a rise in profit of CA$284.5 million, a 39.7% jump year-over-year from CA$203.6 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>In addition, backlog rose to CA$16.4 billion, a 10.6% increase from 2024\u2019s CA$14.8 billion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>L\u2019Heureux praised his firm\u2019s performance, alongside what he called \u201ccontinued, positive momentum\u201d and championed the company\u2019s data center work. In Q3, WSP has secured data center contracts for jobs in the U.S., Canada, Chile, Sweden, Norway, Thailand, Australia and Singapore.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>However, he left investors with a note of caution going forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWe are currently evolving in fluid market dynamics, including, amongst other things, shifting climate priorities and evolving geopolitical contexts,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said. \u201cDespite this reality, our key markets are performing well.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/wsp-q3-earnings-merger-acquisition-shutdown-rumor\/804984\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 4 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. The &#8230; <a title=\"WSP downplays M&#038;A rumors, government shutdown\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wsp-downplays-ma-rumors-government-shutdown\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about WSP downplays M&#038;A rumors, government shutdown\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}