Merger creates massive L.A. construction firm

Los Angeles engineering and construction firm AECOM Technology Corp. has agreed to acquire a San Francisco competitor, creating what the firm said will be the largest public company based in Los Angeles.

AECOM said Sunday it will pay about $4 billion to acquire URS Corp. The combined company will employ about 95,000 people in 150 countries. The two firms had about $19 billion in combined revenue last year.

“This combination creates an industry leader with the ability to deliver more capabilities from a broad global platform to reach more clients in more industry end markets,” said Michael S. Burke, AECOM president and chief executive.

AECOM is building the new World Trade Center in New York. Its recent Southern California projects include the new LAPD headquarters and improvements at the Port of Los Angeles and the Bradley international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport.

URS has worked on the Garden Grove (22) Freeway reconstruction, the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, the Port of Long Beach, the Gold Line Eastside Extension and the Disneyland resort expansion.

Under terms of the merger, AECOM will pay $56.31 per share for URS. Stockholders of URS will receive $33 in cash and 0.734 shares of AECOM stock for each share of URS stock.

The deal was approved by the boards of both companies.

“The combination of AECOM and URS creates an industry leader with unsurpassed capacity to deliver integrated solutions across AECOM’s existing markets,” Burke said.