Tetra Tech continues acquisition thrust in federal tech
By
Ross Wilkers
Tetra Tech makes another acquisition in its continued push to add more technology and analytics work as a complement and perhaps even core to the engineering and construction business.
Tetra Tech, the global engineering and construction company, is pushing further into the federal technology services landscape through its acquisition of Bluewater Federal Solutions.
Terms of the transaction announced Tuesday were undisclosed, but Bluewater and its 350 employees will join Tetra Tech’s government services segment upon the deal’s closure.
Chantilly, Virginia-based Bluewater’s customers include the departments of Defense and Energy, plus the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The company touts its services as including cybersecurity, systems design, and development and operation of federal enterprise IT systems.
Investment bank KippsDeSanto acted as financial adviser to Bluewater on the transaction.
Pasadena, California-based Tetra Tech has made four acquisitions over the past four years with an eye toward applying new technology and other analytics offerings in what the company already does in water, environment and other infrastructure projects.
That push puts Tetra Tech in the same category as many of its competitors in the so-called “AEC” vertical -- architecture, engineering and construction -- that view the government market and particularly IT as both a growth channel and complementary to the core business.
Earlier this year, Tetra Tech acquired Segue Technologies to add more application development and modernization services for federal agencies. Tetra Tech’s two other main deals in federal technology have included that of eGlobalTech last year and Indus Corp. in 2016.
Revenue from U.S. federal contracts represented 30.3 percent, or $939.3 million, of Tetra Tech’s total $3.1 billion in sales for its last fiscal year ended Sept. 29, 2019.