Global project delivery company WorleyParsons announced its acquisi- tion of project house TWP last month, enabling its customers to execute world-scale mega mine-to-market projects, WorleyParsons regional MD for sub-Saharan Africa Francis McNiff tells Mining Weekly.

The R900-million acquisition of TWP, which has received all final approvals, including South African Competition Commission approval and shareholder approval, gives WorleyParsons a strategic and differentiated offering from that of its competitors, he says.

“The transaction is about combining the strengths of the two companies,” McNiff says.

“TWP does everything from the initial upfront mine planning and feasibility studies, while WorleyParsons has a strong infrastructure capability in South Africa as well as complementary technical and project management capabilities glo- bally. Therefore, if you add TWP’s skills to that of WorleyParsons, the company can execute projects from a greenfield feasibility study right through to building the entire mine and the associated infrastructure required to export the products,” TWP chairperson Nigel Townshend says.

McNiff states that WorleyParsons decided to acquire TWP because it wanted to expand its minerals, metals and chemicals grouping and build a world-class execution capability in South Africa capable of supporting projects within Africa and internationally.

“TWP has a strong presence in South Africa and we saw them as a particularly good fit, specifi- cally with regard to its under- ground mining and precious metals processing capabilities,” he adds.

WorleyParsons has identified underground mining in sub- Saharan Africa and globally as a growth market going forward, with many resources requiring deeper extraction, which reaffirms that TWP is the right fit for the company, McNiff says.

Meanwhile, TWP is also a capable organisation in terms of management, which adds depth and breadth to the existing WorleyParsons business in the other sectors in which it operates, such as hydrocarbons, power and infrastructure, he adds.

Further, TWP also has a strong front-end capability with regard to mine planning, which allows for early customer engage- ment and is advantageous to WorleyParsons in other parts of the world.

Townshend points out that the acquisition by WorleyParsons will assist TWP in reaching its objective to globalise its business.

“WorleyParsons operates in 42 countries, which immediately gives us access to a large global market. We are already pursuing expressions of interest with WorleyParsons on projects in, among others, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, which we would not have been able to do without WorleyParsons’ local presence in the countries,” says Townshend.

Over time, TWP and the South African WorleyParsons operations will be integrated into one business, Townshend says.

A transition and integration process, jointly led by the management teams of WorleyParsons and TWP, has already started, McNiff adds.

“We are attempting to bring the parties together in a manner that is as seamless as possible. It is a tricky balance, as we do not want to disturb the existing business while simultaneously capturing the synergies from the partnership as quickly as possible,” he says.

Townshend adds that the skills sets of TWP and WorleyParsons are complementary. “There is no real overlap within TWP with the current service offering of WorleyParsons in South Africa, so it should be an easy integration. Having integrated locally in South Africa, TWP will be able to access the global market from WorleyParsons’ numerous international businesses.”

WorleyParsons has also been pleased with the positive reaction from its key customers regarding the acquisition, McNiff says.

“We have also, in anticipation of the acquisition, been working on some joint pursuits with TWP and have a healthy pipeline of opportunities that are being pursued,” he adds.

“There are several exciting projects that TWP is working on in collaboration with WorleyParsons, including an underground operation in Chile, and the execution phase of diamond major De Beers’ Venetia project, which has just started,” Townshend says.