FINANCIAL & STRATEGIC ADVICE: EFCG is engaged on a retainer basis by a substantial number of major e/c firms to provide strategic and financial advice. EFCG also takes on ad hoc assignments, frequently relating to assistance in evaluating a firm's strategic alternatives; ownership or management transition (see below); recapitalizations; acquisitions and reorganizations; strategic planning and assistance with financings. Partial List of Past and Current Clients...

VALUATIONS: EFCG performs periodic valuations for a number of firms for internal ownership transfer and ESOP purposes; as well as ad hoc valuations and fairness opinions. For further details on our valuation services, click here.

PEER BENCHMARKING ANALYSES ("PBA"): EFCG performs numerous benchmarking analyses for its e/c clients, comparing them on roughly 100 financial and business parameters with 20 to 30 of their most comparable peer firms. These peer analyses are based upon confidential and proprietary data, and have provided helpful insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the firms, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of potential acquisition candidates during a due diligence process. View a Sample Page from a Peer Analysis, or a List of Exhibits.

EFCG also performs an Executive Compensation Analysis, as a complement to the Peer Analysis or as an independent assignment. The Executive Compensation Analysis benchmarks the top 5 most highly paid executives by comparing their total compensation to the revenues and profits for which they are responsible.

MERGERS and ACQUISITIONS: EFCG is the leading M&A advisory firm to the e/c industry. Services include assisting firms in finding merger or strategic alliance partners or acquisition buyers, as well as assisting in "buy-side" searches; we also assist firms with the negotiation of specific transactions. EFCG has advised on over 70 completed M&A transactions in this field. View some of our past M&A transactions.

INDUSTRY INFORMATION, MARKET RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS: EFCG provides financial information to the engineering/consulting and architecture industry through its annual conferences, publications, presentations and market research studies.

Annual Conferences: For the past fifteen years, EFCG has hosted the Engineering/ Consulting ("e/c") CEO Conference, which brings together 200+ CEO's of e/c firms for a 2-day conference in NYC in October, featuring 35 speakers, who discuss the trends in the industry. EFCG also hosts the Annual CFO Conference for Engineering/Consulting Firms, bringing together 100 CFOs from leading firms, and the Annual A/E CEO Conference for Building Design & Construction Management Firms. As part of its conferences, EFCG conducts financial surveys of the industry, in which virtually all the major a/e/c firms participate, and which is perceived as the most comprehensive source of financial and business metrics for the a/e/c industry.

Publications: EFCG publishes a quarterly financial analysis of 14 U.S.-traded and 7 European-traded publicly-held e/c firms ("Public Companies Comparable Analysis") and a business analysis of the industry that also summarizes the issues raised at each of the annual conferences ("Overview Letter").

EFCG Compensation Survey & Compensation Analyses: EFCG conducts an annual compensation survey of the e/c industry. This survey was launched in 2006. The survey includes analysis of Top 10 Executives By Rank, 8 Executives By Title, Regional/Division/Profit Center Managers, Project Managers, Engineers and Scientists. EFCG also provides customized compensation analyses of top executives.

Presentations: EFCG has addressed the Board of Directors, Shareholders and/or Management Committees of numerous firms with respect to the status, future and trends of the environmental, transportation and infrastructure e/c industry. Among the firms to which EFCG has presented are: Arcadis (Geraghty & Miller), BBL, Black & Veatch, Boyle Engineering, Brown & Caldwell, Carollo Engineers, Carter & Burgess, CDM, CH2M Hill, Dames & Moore, David Evans, Delta Environmental, Dewberry & Davis, EARTH TECH, Edwards & Kelcey, ENSR, ENVIRON, ERM, Geomatrix, GeoSyntec, Golder, GZA, Halcrow, Harza, Hatch Mott MacDonald, Hazen & Sawyer, HNTB, IT Corporation, Lockheed Martin Environmental, Metcalf & Eddy, Michael Baker, Montgomery Watson, O'Brien & Gere, Parsons Brinckerhoff, PBS&J, Reynolds Smith & HIll, RMT, Roy F. Weston, R.W. Beck, SAIC/REW, Sargent & Lundy, Schoor DePalma, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Smith Environmental, Stantec, Tetra Tech, TRC, URS, Woodward Clyde Group, Woolpert Consultants.

OWNERSHIP CAPITALIZATION & COMPENSATION PLANS (OCCPs) and INTERNAL OWNERSHIP TRANSITIONS (IOTs): EFCG assists architectural, engineering and consulting firms to evaluate, modify and develop their approaches to employee ownership, compensation and capitalization plans ("OCCP"). For employee-owned firms, OCCPs address three goals: maintaining internal or employee ownership, adequacy and appropriateness of compensation, and the adequacy of capitalization to enable the firm to finance its internal growth while, at the same time, providing liquidity for retiring, or otherwise departing, employee shareholders. Almost every engineering and consulting firm has a different approach to this, and the challenge to meet these three different objectives is particularly critical to professional services firms and highly sensitive to the unique culture of each firm.

Designing an OCCP also requires an approach to deal with internal owernship transfer ("IOT"), avoiding the need for a company to sell out to a third party when it comes time for founders or senior owners to retire or liquify their equity positions. Helping e/c and architecture firms accomplish this on a prudent and sustainable basis is one of our primary specialties, and we have been assisting A/E/C firms with their own plans for 15 years.