March 10, 2008

Corporate Acquisition

Genivar acquires EXH Engineering and RFA Consulting

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

The Genivar Income Fund announced on March 3 that it has acquired EXH Engineering Services Ltd. and RFA Consulting Electrical Engineers Inc.

EXH Engineering Services Ltd. is an Alberta-based company with 14 offices and 275 employees. The financial terms of the deal have not been released. But the transaction, which was effective as of Feb. 29, expands Genivar’s workforce in Western Canada to more than 500 employees.

“The acquisition of EXH, an industry leader in Alberta, represents a major step forward in developing our engineering services platform in this province. We have gained an important foothold there thanks to EXH’’s strong local presence, with 14 offices around the province, including Red Deer, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Medicine Hat and Grande Prairie.” said Pierre Shoiry, Genivar’s president and CEO.

“With EXH on board, GENIVAR is a key player in the transportation and municipal infrastructure sectors, which are strong markets in the years to come. We intend to keep expanding our team in all of our markets, particularly the building, environment, industrial and power sectors.”

EXH provides private developers and municipalities across Alberta with municipal engineering services, including water and wastewater systems, solid waste management and subdivision design. EXH also specializes in road and highway engineering, bridges and material testing and environmental risk and impact assessments.

“Having been involved in almost every facet of Alberta’s infrastructure development, we can now expand our business opportunities and carry out larger and more complex projects thanks to GENIVAR’s size, capacity and vast pool of multidisciplinary skills, backed by our province’s significant growth potential,” said Brian Oshust, president of EXH.

Founded in 1991, EXH has over 275 employees based in 14 offices across Alberta. EXH generated gross revenue of approximately $36 million in 2007.

Genivar announced on Feb. 7 that it acquired RFA Consulting Electrical Engineers Inc. (RFA), which is a 30-employee firm based in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.

RFA provides electrical engineering and lighting design services and specializes in buildings and other civil infrastructure.

“RFA has a solid client base, being an important provider of engineering services to large healthcare, institutional, governmental and commercial clients in British Columbia,” said Shoiry. “This acquisition represents another step forward in increasing our national platform in the building market segment and as well, it expands our operations in Vancouver and establishes our presence in Victoria.”

The acquisition establishes Genivar as one of the prominent firms in building engineering in B.C.

“The firm (RFA) is committed to environmentally sensitive, sustainable engineering and is continuously advancing its electrical designs,” said J. Rob Harmer, vice-president of Genivar Western Canada.

Since 1992, RFA has completed many award-winning and LEED projects, including the first LEED Platinum Certification in Canada for Parks Canada, and the Vancouver Island Technology Park project. This project received the first LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Buildings Council.

Founded in 1974, RFA has 30 people working at the firm’s Vancouver and Victoria offices.

They provide electrical engineering services from concept to commissioning for healthcare, institutional, governmental, commercial and industrial clients.

As one of the largest engineering services firms in Canada, GENIVAR provides private and public sector clients with a range of services through all phases of a project including planning, design, construction and maintenance.

GENIVAR’s clients operate in various market segments such as buildings, industrial and power, urban infrastructure, transportation and environment.

The company has more than 2,400 managers, professionals, technicians and technologists and support staff in more than 45 offices in Canada and internationally.

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