Brooke Sutherland, Columnist

Buyers Bet on Infrastructure, With or Without Trump

Jacobs is the latest to prep for road, water system upgrades in the U.S. and abroad.

August 2, 2017 at 4:53 PM UTC

Brooke Sutherland is Bloomberg News' Boston bureau chief and writes the Industrial Strength Newsletter. She was previously a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies and an M&A reporter for Bloomberg News.

1501692987_GettyImages-528523806 — Photographer: Mark Lyons

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Industrial acquirers are doing what President Donald Trump can't when it comes to infrastructure: putting their money where their mouth is.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced on Wednesday it would acquire CH2M HILL Companies Ltd. for $3.27 billion including debt. CH2M, which gets much of its business from government clients, was a project manager for the expansion of the Panama Canal. It will bolster Jacobs' expertise in water-systems upgrades, pushing buildings and infrastructure services to 32 percent of revenue, up from 21 percent previously.