Egis has announced the acquisition of Brazillian engineering firm Lenc.

Established in 1975, the São Paulo-based engineering firm Lenc with its 450 employees is one of the leaders in the road building market, covering fields ranging from preliminary studies to project management, work supervision and inspection.

It also operates nearly 2,500 km of roads. The company runs a nationally-acclaimed materials testing laboratory and possesses several geotechnical surveying facilities. Over the past ten years it has also extensively developed its activities in the environmental field.

Listed among the top 25 Brazilian engineering firms by the journal O Empreiteiro, Lenc's 2013 turnover reached €40 million, generated entirely in Brazil. Its main clients are public sector contracting authorities in the transport field and privately-owned firms in the environmental sector.

Lenc's most noteworthy references include the design and works supervision of the São Paulo orbital motorway (Rodoanel Mario Covas), the program management of improvement works on the Tietê-Maranà  waterway (1,100 km) and impact studies for Petrobras' offshore oil exploration activities.

With 200 million inhabitants and a surface area of more than 8,5 million sq.km, Brazil is the giant nation in Latin America, clocking in as the 7th largest economy in the world.

One of country's main challenges is infrastructure modernisation and development. Transport market is concerned as well as other Egis fields such as energy, urban development, waste and water management and treatment.

Egis has been a major player in infrastructures engineering in Brazil. The teams bring together more than 300 professionals developing projects all over the country for private and public clients.

The group main fields of activities in Brazil are carried out through 3 companies:

* Egis Vega Engenharia e Consultoria, an urban transport, passenger rail transport and freight rail infrastructure engineering specialist, has been founded in 1987 and joined Egis in 2011. Egis is currently conducting the engineering and interface management of the Salvador metro of Bahia as well as the detailed studies for doubling the existing Carajas railway line.

* Egis Aeroservice Consultoria e Engenharia de Projeto, specialising in airport consulting and engineering, has been founded in 1984 and joined Egis in 2012. In 2013 Egis Aeroservice conducted the masters plans of the Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte airports. Egis Airport Operation do Brasil, founded in 2012, is a shareholder of the concessionary company of Campinas - Viracopos airport in north São Paulo.

* This new acquisition allows Egis to become one of the foremost engineering firms in Brazil, offering a comprehensive range of services in urban development, regional planning and multi-modal transport, whilst also consolidating its international business activities in one of the most promising countries in the world.