It's official, CH2M Hill finally took over Veco today...
Scandal-ridden Veco sold to Colorado firm
adn.com
By SEAN COCKERHAM, scockerham@adn.com
Published: September 7, 2007
Last Modified: September 7, 2007 at 03:10 PM
Colorado-based CH2M Hill on Friday acquired scandal-ridden Veco Corp., the Anchorage oil field services and construction company whose former executives pleaded guilty this spring to bribing state legislators.
CH2M Hill decided not to keep the name Veco for what is now a part of the Colorado firm’s energy systems division. The former Veco businesses will generally operate under the CH2M Hill name, and cranes removed Veco signs from the company’s East 36th Avenue offices on Friday afternoon.
“It’s a new day, a new future,” said CH2M Hill spokesman John Corsi.
Veco is one of the largest companies in Alaska, with about 2,000 employees in the state and a similar number in operations that span the globe.
Corsi said the purchase includes “all core operations, people and projects” from the former Veco. CH2M Hill said it did not have a breakdown Friday on what was not included in the sale, but described the assets left on the table as “minimal.”
One former Veco operation not part of the sale is the Voice of the Times, the Web site successor to the conservative half-page editorial section that appeared in the Daily News for 15 years. The site will continue indefinitely as part of a holding company owned by the Allen family but expects to become a financially self-sufficient operation, according to Voice of the Times editor Tom Brennan.
Veco’s former chief executive, Bill Allen, and former vice president Rick Smith pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and bribery in the ongoing political corruption investigation in Alaska. Tammy Kerrigan, Allen’s daughter, took over as Veco chairwoman after her father pleaded guilty May 7 and subsequently stepped down from his corporate posts.
“The Allen family is pleased that Veco’s legacy of hard work, client service and professional excellence will continue with this acquisition,” Kerrigan said in a press release.
CH2M Hill spokesman Corsi said the Veco assets were valued at $463 million. The final tally of the sale will come in at “slightly less than that,” he said. |
