Dr Tillmanns marks latest acquisition for fast-growing RSK Group

Dr Tillmanns & Partner GmbH, an environmental and geotechnical engineering firm headquartered in Bergheim, Germany, is the latest company to be acquired by RSK Group Ltd, the UK’s leading integrated environmental, engineering and technical services business.

It is the tenth acquisition of the 2018/19 financial year by RSK, a private company with 36 international offices, more than 2700 staff and an annual turnover of £200 million.

Dr Tillmanns & Partner provides advice on and services in soil and groundwater contamination, rehabilitation planning and monitoring, landfill technology and planning, subsoil investigations, geothermics, hydrogeology and soil mechanics. In addition to undertaking fieldwork, Dr Tillmanns & Partner has an accredited in-house earthworks laboratory. With a staff of more than 20 geologists, mineralogists, geographers and other scientific professionals, it is one of the largest private companies of its kind in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Dr Tillmanns & Partner will continue to be led by managing directors Bernd Braun and Ottmar Sistenich, along with RSK’s Michael Schubert and Nigel Board, who will join the company board as managing directors. The company will join RSK Alenco, RSK’s existing German business, within its European division.

The acquisition represents further international expansion for RSK. In December 2018, RSK announced a funding package in the form of a unitranche senior debt facility from funds managed by Ares Capital Europe and a revolving credit facility provided by NatWest. This will be used to finance a strategic planned doubling in size over the next few years through the development of new businesses and the acquisition of bolt-on complementary businesses, and to boost RSK’s international growth.

RSK’s founder and chief executive officer, Dr Alan Ryder, said:

“I’m really pleased to see this acquisition, which I hope will be the first of several as we invest in our European businesses and expand in Europe over the next few years. Dr Tillmanns & Partner is a great business with a very strong site investigation offer, which will help to strengthen and diversify our existing business in Germany. Dr Tillmanns & Partner has a well-earned reputation and long-established relationships with its clients.”

Dr Wolfgang Tillmanns, the company founder, said:

“I am very happy that the company has been passed into the trustful hands of RSK. RSK, a growing, privately owned geoenvironmental group, will give Dr Tillmanns & Partner new opportunities for growth. The company managing directors Bernd Braun and Ottmar Sistenich are looking forward to working collaboratively with RSK Alenco and the rest of the group and are excited to be part of RSK’s growth in Germany.”