Jacobs Engineering Sells French Unit, Still Plans Major Pasadena Cutback

Pasadena-based Jacobs Engineering has sold its France subsidiary through a share purchase agreement that transfers operations Nox Sarl. The company said the transaction was settled in cash.

Jacobs President and CEO Steve Demetriou said the company decided to sell the French unit after a careful review of strategy for the unit.

“The business in France fits well with Nox and supports the company’s ambitions for continued growth amongst its core market segments,” Demetriou said in a press release. “This represents our continued efforts to streamline our overall operational efficiency in regions that fit within our target markets and geographies.”

The France subsidiary has offices in Paris, Lyon, Le Havre and Aix en Provence, and a workforce of roughly 250 employees.

Nox has some 400 employees across 30 locations in France and worldwide, and provides global expertise across engineering public and private partnerships, project management, investments and real estate services.

In another announcement, Jacobs said it has been named as client-side technical advisor to the Western Australia Public Transport Authority for the Forrestfield Airport Rail Link, currently the largest infrastructure project in Western Australia.

The project involves the construction of about 5.3 miles of rail running underground in twin bored tunnels, which connect an existing above-ground passenger rail line to the Perth airport and also connect the eastern foothill suburbs to the rail network for the first time.

Jacobs is providing the Western Australia Public Transport Authority with a multi-disciplinary engineering and environmental team to review the project’s design and construction documentation. The team will review and confirm the technical acceptance of safety critical systems and adherence to PTA operations, maintenance and other policy conditions, as well as compliance with other stakeholder requirements.

Jacobs has also received a three-year contract from Saudi International Petrochemical Co. to provide general engineering services at Sipchem’s Jubail Industrial City facilities in Saudi Arabia.

Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs is expected to provide a range of engineering services on an as-needed basis for a portfolio of minor capital expenditure projects at the Sipchem facilities.