URS Corporation

URS Corporation's oldest predecessor company was founded in 1904. URS was established in 1951 and incorporated in 1957 as Broadview Research – a research group active in the area of physical and engineering sciences. In 1967, management developed a growth strategy focused on building a multidisciplinary professional services firm. In 1968, Broadview Research acquired United Research Incorporated of Cambridge, Massachusetts. During this period, the name Broadview Research was changed to United Research Services and later shortened to URS.

URS was publicly traded as "URS" on the NYSE from January 13, 1978 through its acquisition by AECOM on October 17, 2014. It was originally traded as Thortec. A major investor was Richard Blum, husband of Senator Dianne Feinstein.

As of June 2013, the firm had more than 50,000 employees worldwide, in nearly 50 countries.

Activist investor demands and sale of company

Following announcements in early February 2014 that the fiscal year 2013 revenue and earnings were below expectations, URS made some management changes. URS had acquired Flint Energy Services for $1.25 billion in February 2012, creating an oil and gas division for the company. Issues in the oil and gas division were cited for the poor financial performance in fiscal year 2013 and URS announced the resignation of senior staff from that division. By the end of February 2014, the hedge fund Jana Partners disclosed that they had acquired an activist investor ownership position in the publicly traded company, announcing an intent to engage the corporate management on board and corporate structure and to create shareholder value.

Amidst industry speculation of a corporate breakup for URS, AECOM announced on July 13, 2014 that an agreement was reached to acquire URS for about $4 billion in cash and shares with another $2 billion in assumed debt. The final acquisition was decided on October 17, 2014, and URS was officially part of AECOM as of October 20, 2014.

In 1996, URS acquired Greiner Engineering for $73.5 million. Greiner Engineering had been established in 1908 by John E. Greiner. Greiner was a former bridge engineer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and worked at one time for Gustav Lindenthal, including on the Seventh Street Bridge.

URS acquired the Denver, Colorado based civil, geotechnical and environmental engineering firm Woodward-Clyde Group in 1997 for $100 Million, bringing additional environmental capabilities and a broader international presence to the organization. When Dames & Moore Group joined in 1999 (which had recently absorbed the Australian firm Hardcastle & Richards), URS further strengthened its program and construction management expertise and added to its FORTUNE 500 client base. In February 1999, URS also acquired transport consultant Thorburn Colquhoun.

In 2002, URS acquired EG&G Technical Services, positioning the company as a leading U.S. federal services contractor.

In November 2007, URS acquired Washington Group International of Boise for $3.1B and operated it as the "Energy and Construction Division".