AECOM joint venture appointed by Unitywater as Professional Services Partner

Rhea-AI Summary

AECOM, a leading infrastructure consulting firm, announced its appointment by Unitywater as a Professional Services Partner in a joint venture with Aurecon. Unitywater supplies water and sewage services to over 800,000 people in South East Queensland, Australia. The partnership will support Unitywater’s $1.8 billion, five-year capital works program to meet regional growth and sustainability goals. AECOM will provide end-to-end professional services, including planning, design, technical assurance, and construction support. This collaboration aims to enhance water distribution, sewage collection, and recycled water schemes, aligning with AECOM's strategy to deliver transformative water projects.

Positive

• AECOM appointed as Professional Services Partner for Unitywater.
• Partnership with Aurecon for a joint venture project.
• Support for a $1.8 billion, five-year capital works program.
• Project aims to meet regional growth and sustainability goals.
• Comprehensive scope including sewage treatment plant upgrades and water distribution.
• AECOM to provide end-to-end professional services.
• Enhances AECOM's track record in large-scale water projects.
• Deployment of industry-leading technical skills in the water sector.

Negative

• No specific revenue figures or profit expectations provided.
• Potential risks associated with long-term project timelines.
• Dependence on successful execution of a large-scale capital program.

Financial Analyst

The appointment of AECOM's joint venture (JV) as a Professional Services Partner for Unitywater's $1.8 billion capital works program indicates a solid revenue stream for the next five years. This partnership aligns with AECOM's strategic objectives to expand its footprint in high-growth regions such as South East Queensland. From a financial perspective, this engagement is beneficial for AECOM as it diversifies its project portfolio and enhances its recurring revenue base. However, investors should be vigilant about potential cost overruns and project delays that could impact margins. The water infrastructure sector is capital-intensive and often subject to regulatory and environmental scrutiny, which could pose risks to timely completion and profitability.

Market Research Analyst

This partnership highlights AECOM's competitive edge in securing significant infrastructure projects, particularly in regions experiencing rapid population growth. The focus on sustainable practices and net zero goals aligns with the increasing market demand for environmentally responsible solutions. This positions AECOM favorably in the eyes of investors who prioritize Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria. It also showcases AECOM's capability to handle large-scale projects, which can serve as a strong reference for future bids. Nevertheless, the success of this project will depend on effective collaboration within the JV and with Unitywater, which could be challenging given the project's scale and scope.

Infrastructure Expert

The scope of work, including sewage treatment plant upgrades, network growth and recycled water schemes, underscores the critical nature of the infrastructure improvements. These upgrades are essential to accommodate the growing population and ensure sustainable water management practices. AECOM's role will span the entire project lifecycle, providing a comprehensive service package that includes planning, design and construction support. This all-encompassing involvement ensures that AECOM directly influences the project's success. However, the complexity of integrating new technologies and ensuring technical assurance throughout the project lifecycle requires meticulous planning and execution, which poses both opportunities and challenges.

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AECOM (NYSE: ACM), the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, today announced that Unitywater has appointed AECOM, in a joint venture with Aurecon, as Professional Services Partner. Unitywater provides water supply and sewage treatment services to more than 800,000 people daily across the Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Noosa regions of South East Queensland, Australia.

“We’re excited to partner with Unitywater in providing safe, reliable water and sewerage services,” said Mark McManamny, chief executive of AECOM’s Australia and New Zealand region. “With the South East Queensland region experiencing significant population growth, our unique combination of global Water and program management capabilities mean our team is ideally positioned to partner with Unitywater to deliver critical infrastructure, advance sustainable practices, and unlock efficiencies at each stage of the program.”

As part of the Elevate joint venture, AECOM will support Unitywater’s five-year, $1.8 billion capital works program under the Build Better Together program. The program aims to help meet regional growth and achieve enduring sustainability and net zero goals and has been designed to provide for a long-term, collaborative, and efficient delivery model. Its scope spans sewage treatment plant upgrades and renewals, network growth and renewals for water distribution, reticulation and sewerage collection, and recycled water schemes. In its role, AECOM will provide professional services across the whole project lifecycle by supporting strategic, long term and detailed planning, and undertaking design, technical assurance, and construction support throughout delivery, operationalization and handover.

“This significant engagement with Unitywater builds on our track record of securing large-scale water projects across Queensland and our Australia New Zealand region,” said Beverley Stinson, chief executive of AECOM’s global Water business. “As we advance our commitment to delivering transformative work, we look forward to deploying and deepening our industry-leading technical skills in the water sector, which span the full breadth of our clients’ needs — from conveyance and treatment to reuse and beyond.”

Unitywater operates and maintains more than $3.8 billion of essential service infrastructure, supplying water and sewerage services to residential and business customers, including 6290 km of water mains, 103 water reservoirs, and 17 sewage treatment plants.

About AECOM

AECOM (NYSE: ACM) is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy, and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $14.4 billion in fiscal year 2023. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this communication other than statements of historical fact are “forward-looking statements” for purposes of federal and state securities laws, including any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives for future operations, profitability, strategic value creation, risk profile and investment strategies, and any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance, and the expected financial and operational results of AECOM. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those projected or assumed in any of our forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results, performance and achievements, or industry results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: our business is cyclical and vulnerable to economic downturns and client spending reductions; potential government shutdowns or other funding circumstances that may cause governmental agencies to modify, curtail or terminate our contracts; losses under fixed-price contracts; limited control over operations that run through our joint venture entities; liability for misconduct by our employees or consultants; failure to comply with laws or regulations applicable to our business; maintaining adequate surety and financial capacity; potential high leverage and inability to service our debt and guarantees; ability to continue payment of dividends; exposure to political and economic risks in different countries, including tariffs, geopolitical events, and conflicts; currency exchange rate and interest fluctuations; retaining and recruiting key technical and management personnel; legal claims; inadequate insurance coverage; environmental law compliance and adequate nuclear indemnification; unexpected adjustments and cancellations related to our backlog; partners and third parties who may fail to satisfy their legal obligations; managing pension costs; AECOM Capital real estate development projects; cybersecurity issues, IT outages and data privacy; risks associated with the benefits and costs of the sale of our Management Services and self-perform at-risk civil infrastructure, power construction and oil and gas businesses, including the risk that any purchase adjustments from those transactions could be unfavorable and result in any future proceeds owed to us as part of the transactions could be lower than we expect; as well as other additional risks and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements set forth in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof. We do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statement.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240530493461/en/

Media Contact:

Brendan Ranson-Walsh

Senior Vice President, Global Communications

1.213.996.2367

Brendan.Ranson-Walsh@aecom.com

Investor Contact:

Will Gabrielski

Senior Vice President, Finance, Treasurer

1.213.593.8208

William.Gabrielski@aecom.com

Source: AECOM

FAQ

What is the role of AECOM in the Unitywater partnership?

AECOM will provide professional services across the project lifecycle, including planning, design, technical assurance, and construction support for Unitywater's capital works program.

What is the value of the capital works program AECOM is involved in?

The capital works program has a value of $1.8 billion over five years.

Which regions will benefit from the AECOM and Unitywater partnership?

The regions benefiting are Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast, and Noosa in South East Queensland, Australia.

What services does Unitywater provide?

Unitywater provides water supply and sewage treatment services to over 800,000 people daily.

What are the goals of the Unitywater capital works program?

The program aims to meet regional growth, achieve sustainability and net zero goals, and improve water and sewage infrastructure.