AMEC:AGRA

AGRA
AGRA Inc. is a Canadian based engineering, construction and technology services company. On February 16, 2000 AGRA Inc. and AMEC Plc announced a merger agreement. The deal was completed on April 20, 2000 when AGRA officially changed its name to AMEC and adopted a new AMEC global brand identity. The combination of AGRA and AMEC significantly strengthened AMEC's foothold in North America.[lxviii]
AMEC's operating subsidiaries and related North American companies, including AGRA Earth and Environmental, AGRA Systems, AGRA Monenco, AGRA Simons, and Morse Diesel International Inc. initially continued to operate under their current names. They adopted the AMEC identity on January 1, 2001

AGRA Earth and Environmental
One of North America's largest full service environmental consulting firms, having 18 offices in the United States, 42 in Canada and 5 in other nations[lxix]

AGRA Systems
Provider of professional IT solutions

AGRA Monenco
Engineering firm

AGRA Simons
A leader in the provision of engineering and project management services for the forestry, mining and consumer products industries.

Morse Diesel International Inc. [now AMEC Construction Management Inc.]
Morse Diesel International Inc. is one of the largest construction management and consulting companies in the world. The bulk of

AMEC's turnover in construction management comprises Morse Diesel's activities in the US[lxx]
CEO Pete Mason (formerly President & CEO of AGRA), in conversation with The Wall Street Transcript, about the strategic thinking behind the merger with AGRA Inc.: "One of the attractions of AGRA was that out of 6,500 employees it had 3,500 associated with the design process. In AGRA we see a leading North American professional services group, specialising in engineering and environmental activities, and it also has an advanced technology solutions business. AGRA brings a number of key industries to us, including oil and gas in North America, fine chemicals, consumer products, mining and forest products. So AGRA brought good design, systems skills and substantially increased the new AMEC in that regard."[lxxi]

AGRA's activities have included the following:

• Construction, as part of a consortium called Canadian Highway International Co., of the Highway 407, the first fully electronic toll expressway in Canada
  
• AGRA managed the construction of the Wolsong CANDO reactor in South Korea
  
• AGRA's project management was selected for the Three Gorge hydroelectric project in China; assisting the gov't with the forcible resettlement of 1.2 million people living in a densely populated area - the computer programme to manage this resettlement was provided by Monenco AGRA inc, a subsidiary of AGRA Industries[lxxii]
  
• AGRA won a $44m contract in Indonesia to manage a cellular phone explosion there.

Footnotes
[lxviii] 'Agra officially changes its name to AMEC', source: Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections, Company News: Europe, Volume 5, issue 10, 09.06.2000, available online at: 09.06.2000http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/company/cne02346.htm, date viewed: 24.02.02
[lxix] 'New Name, New Leader for AGRA Earth & Environmental', source: Water and Wastewater.Com Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 25, September 11, 2000. Available online at:
http://www.waterandwastewater.com/www_services/newsletter/september_11_2000.htm (date viewed: 24.02.02)
[lxx] 'Knowledge, Innovation and Technology', AMEC plc Annual Report and Accounts 2000, page 30
[lxxi] http://twst.com/notes/articles/kas001.html (source: The Wall Street Transcript, date viewed: 24.02.02)