Marsh Acquires Construction Consultant

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June 10, 2008 Tuesday 04:13 PM EST

317 words

Marsh Acquires Construction Consultant

Alyn Ackermann

NEW YORK

Marsh Inc. has acquired the Nielsen-Wurster Group, a construction consultant specializing in risk management and dispute resolution involving major capital projects, the company said.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. A Marsh spokesman said the company, the brokerage business of Marsh & McLennan Cos. (NYSE: MMC), also would not disclose financial information about Nielsen-Wurster.

Nielsen-Wurster President Reza Nikain and more than 30 staff members will join Marsh, the broker said.

The acquisition will increase, to more than 50 from more than 20, the number of employees working in the construction-consulting practice of the Forensic Accounting and Claims Services operation, said John Merkovsky, global leader of Marsh's Risk Consulting Practice, which includes the FACS operations. These employees include engineers, certified public accountants, project managers, schedule experts, architects, attorneys and contract specialists.

"Our goal is to build out, off of the Nielsen-Wurster platform, our capabilities on a global basis," Merkovsky said. "It is part of an overall goal to help our clients manage all aspects of their capital projects."

The construction-consulting practice, he said, assists clients on capital projects in areas relating to project design, construction, risk assessment and management, dispute resolution, litigation support, project governance and project performance.

Earlier this month, Marsh was licensed by Saudi Arabia to provide full insurance broking and advisory services in that country (BestWire, June 2, 2008).

Marsh is the second-largest broker in the world based on brokerage revenue in 2007, according to Best's Review's ranking of global brokers.

Shares of Marsh & McLennan Cos. were selling at $25.98 in midday trading on June 10, down 0.15% from the previous close.

(By Alyn Ackermann, senior associate editor, BestWeek: [email protected])

June 11, 2008