M&A activity snapshot
Geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing (CMT) and special inspection are consolidating fast around a few TIC platforms. The most active, Certerra, has unified 20 businesses since 2021 and employs 1,800+ engineers, technicians and scientists across 50+ offices and labs. No public tracker counts geotechnical or CMT deals on their own, so platform releases are the best record of pace.
The pace held through 2025 and 2026. SOCOTEC bought Ninyo & Moore, a $120M company, adding 16 offices and 600 employees and growing its U.S. workforce to over 1,300 professionals. Certerra added Tampa-based Tierra, with over 210 employees and three CMEC-certified and FDOT-qualified laboratory facilities. UK-based Phenna Group bought Austin's MLA Geotechnical, its 9th acquisition in 2026.
At the top end, GI Partners took Atlas Technical Consultants private in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.05 billion, including outstanding debt. In 2025, Acuren combined with NV5 at an enterprise value of approximately $1.7 billion, creating a TICC and engineering group with over $2 billion of revenue. The combined company runs an Engineering and Lab segment alongside inspection and geospatial.
Who is buying
PE-backed TIC platforms. Certerra is a portfolio company of OceanSound Partners and calls its work "essential, code-driven services to critical infrastructure end markets". UES, which does geotechnical engineering, CMT and threshold inspections, became majority-owned by BDT Capital Partners in 2021, with Palm Beach Capital remaining a major investor. GI Partners completed its acquisition of Atlas on April 19, 2023. Atlas, with 3,500+ employees, counts testing, inspection and certification among its four primary disciplines.
Foreign TIC strategics. SOCOTEC and Phenna are using U.S. geotechnical firms to enter new regions. SOCOTEC said Ninyo & Moore strengthened its presence in California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Utah. Phenna framed MLA as part of its Infrastructure division in the Americas.
Public TICC consolidators and employee-owned nationals. Acuren now owns NV5's lab and engineering business. Terracon is employee-owned and has grown through a long string of regional geotechnical acquisitions. It reported 6,000+ employees and revenues of $1.1 billion in 2023.
What buyers look for
Transferable accreditation. Lab scope decides which work a firm may bid. Federal rules require non-state labs doing independent assurance testing on federal-aid highway jobs to be accredited by the AASHTO Accreditation Program. That program is the largest accrediting body in the construction materials industry, with 2,100+ accredited labs. Its yearly review includes participation in the AASHTO re:source and CCRL proficiency sample programs. A2LA offers a CMT program built on ISO/IEC 17025 with optional ASTM standards such as C1077, D3666 and D3740.
Code-mandated demand. Under IBC Chapter 17, the owner, other than the contractor, must employ one or more approved agencies for special inspections. Soils work must follow the approved geotechnical report. Buyers prize this independence because the revenue does not depend on any one contractor.
Certified technicians. Field and lab capacity is gated by people. ACI runs over 30 certification programs, including Concrete Field Testing Grade I and Concrete Construction Special Inspector. NICET's CMT soils credential must be recertified every three years.
Licensure structure. Some states route engineering through a licensed entity. In Certerra's Southern Engineering deal, all professional engineering services in North Carolina will be provided by Certerra's affiliate Southern Engineering and Testing, P.C. Buyers diligence how the target's licensed entity is owned before closing.
DOT and drilling capability. State DOT lab qualification and owned drill rigs widen what a platform can sell. UES flagged that GME Testing, a firm of 23 staff, owns and operates its own fleet of drill rigs.
What makes a strong company
Firms that draw platform interest tend to share these traits:
- AASHTO, CCRL or A2LA scopes current at every lab, with clean proficiency-sample history and no lapsed fields of testing.
- A geotechnical engineering practice that feeds the CMT and special inspection work on the same project, so one client relationship produces several revenue lines.
- A bench of ACI- and NICET-certified technicians and code-certified special inspectors who do not depend on the founder for supervision.
- Licensed professional engineers beyond the founder, so engineering work and any required licensed-ownership entity survive a change of control.
- A mix of public DOT and municipal work with private commercial work, so one funding source does not set the backlog.
- Owned drill rigs and lab equipment with calibration records a buyer can audit quickly.
Valuation and deal structure
There is no reliable public data set of CMT-only multiples, so TIC benchmarks are the closest proxy. Aventis Advisors finds most private TIC deals price at 7x to 12x EBITDA, with smaller regional labs below $25M enterprise value at the bottom of that range. Listed TIC companies traded at a median 14.0x EV/EBITDA as of August 2026, against a long-term average of 13.9x.
Public comps span a wide band. As of June 30, 2025, Houlihan Lokey put LTM EV/EBITDA at 11.7x for Bureau Veritas, 11.2x for Intertek, 10.7x for Acuren and 5.6x for Mistras, with an 11.6x median. Its selected TICC precedent transactions averaged 14.3x EV/EBITDA over 2016–2025.
The Atlas proxy is the best public window into a U.S. testing-and-engineering valuation. BofA Securities measured Atlas at 7.8x calendar 2023 estimated adjusted EBITDA. Its 17 precedent engineering deals, including Intertek's purchase of Professional Service Industries, showed 7.6x to 16.0x LTM adjusted EBITDA, with a median of 10.5x. The merger agreement set a $20,300,000 company termination fee.
Founders often stay on. UES's 2021 recap let Palm Beach Capital realize cash while remaining a major investor with board representation. Southern Engineering will continue to operate under its existing leadership team. Earnouts and rollover terms in smaller add-ons are rarely disclosed. To see where your own numbers sit, use the valuation tool.
Outlook
Expect platform add-ons to continue through 2027, led by Certerra, UES, SOCOTEC and Phenna filling regional gaps. Code-driven special inspection keeps private building work steady, but DOT-heavy labs face a federal funding question. Holland & Knight warned that without new advance appropriations, DOT programs face a $36.8 billion annual shortfall beginning on October 1, 2026.
That makes client mix a bigger diligence item than a year ago. Firms with transferable accreditation, certified technicians and a balanced public-private book should stay in demand. Owners also need to know their industry code: the 2022 NAICS manual places geotechnical testing in 541380, Testing Laboratories and Services, while geotechnical design work sits under 541330, Engineering Services.
Own a geotechnical or materials testing firm and want a market read before you talk to anyone? Run the valuation tool. See also: how buyers build an M&A target list, and the parent Engineering & Environmental Services M&A page.