South African civil and structural engineering consulting firm, Malani Padayachee & Associates (MPA) and investment holding company, Motseng Women Investments announced the acquisition of 100% equity of Mott MacDonald Africa, the South African subsidiary of Mott MacDonald Group.

MPA will be rebranded as MPAMOT and Mrs Malani Padayachee-Saman will be the chief executive officer and Mrs Ipeleng Mkhari will be MPAMOT’s chair of the board of directors.

With a significant legacy of entrepreneurship, service excellence and sound business acumen, visionary leaders Mrs Malani Padayachee-Saman, CEO of MPA and Mrs Ipeleng Mkhari, CEO of Motseng, are recognised as trail blazers and have shattered through the glass ceilings in their respective industries. Over the past 20 years since starting their businesses, they had to constantly seek new opportunities, reframe their thinking, stretch their ambition, explore opportunities, develop teams to solve complex problems and move the industry forward.

MPA continued to accelerate investment in services and technology and subsequently has shown a consistent exponential growth trajectory. However as first mover, seeking opportunities to take the industry forward and having previously considered organic growth, Malani Padayachee-Saman had to consider an acquisition approach. This has been further reinforced by the fact that the impact of the current pandemic will require a responsive approach particularly on infrastructure with the objective of generating employment opportunities.

This opportunity presented itself when the transaction parties explored opportunities to expand their market share, seek economies of scale and reshape the industry. Upon realising the synergies between their companies, as well as the shared principles and values that underpin their business practices, this acquisition was the natural next step.

This transaction provided a fivefold growth in capacity and capability, with integration of home grown, and global skills, networks, and experience, resulting in greater efficiencies that will significantly increase their market share as a proudly South African business.

As strong, seasoned businesswomen, their legacy of excellence, diligence and perseverance as well as their investment in their teams, clients and the industry will become a springboard to catapult MPAMOT forward to assist all private and public sector clients with multi-disciplinary catalytic infrastructure projects. MPAMOT will emerge as an industry leader to become the engineering and built environment partner of choice within South Africa, the continent and globally.

“We are pleased by this transaction as it offers endless opportunities for our employees, customers, and stakeholders across the sector, said Mrs Mkhari. “It will bring together a collective of exceptional skills and expertise and extensive experience that is expected to make a prominent footprint in the country and the continent. We believe the combination of a team of well-connected and successful entrepreneurs with a wealth of local and global experience, a highly capable management team, and committed, experienced employees committed to driving the business forward, is a recipe for success” further said Mrs Mkhari.

Mrs Padayachee-Saman said: “This transaction has taken months of hard work and countless consultations; we are pleased to have finally put pen to paper. The collaboration with Mott MacDonald is assured through sound cooperation agreements. This represents growth of MPA and Motseng in the engineering and built environment and expands our horizons beyond our borders in line with our ambition of growth into the African continent. We look forward to providing expanded services for all our current and future clients and the continued growth and development of our excellent teams.”

www.mpamot.co.za