Jacobs Matasis Acquires Ilitha Companies in South Africa

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) announced today that its South African joint venture, Jacobs Matasis (Proprietary) Limited, has acquired the business and assets of Ilitha Projects and Ilitha Staffing, two South African professional services companies operating out of the city of Cape Town, SA.

Jacobs has worked in a formal alliance with Ilitha Projects and Ilitha Staffing since August 2011, successfully completing a number of projects together.

Ilitha Projects provides project management and EPCM services to clients in a broad range of market sectors, including oil and gas, refining, chemicals, power, nuclear, marine mining and metals. Ilitha Staffing supplies technical contract staff sourcing and management services with a strong emphasis on integration with the client’s culture and business practices.

The acquisition adds an engineering office in Cape Town and 161 professional services staff to Jacobs Matasis, bringing its personnel count to over 300.

Upon making the announcement, Jacobs Group Vice President Bob Irvin stated, “The expanded resource base we gain through Ilitha allows us to enhance our service offerings for customers and provide more opportunities for employees.”

Jacobs Matasis Chairman Dr. E.M. Dipico added, “The acquisition strengthens our ability to compete with other major engineering and construction firms operating in Southern Africa; with the goal of achieving growth in the Sub-Saharan African market.”

Ilitha CEO Dave Welbourne commented, “From the outset we have been highly impressed by the integrity and values of the Jacobs organization. Ilitha is fully aligned with these values and with the sustainable Jacobs relationship based business model, which we expect to smooth our integration into the Jacobs Matasis operation.”

Jacobs Matasis, a Jacobs joint venture with Matasis Investment Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, is aligned with South Africa’s economic transformation imperatives and has achieved Level 3 Status in terms of the country’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment legislation.

Jacobs is one of the world's largest and most diverse providers of technical, professional, and construction services.

Statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on management’s current estimates and expectations as well as currently available competitive, financial and economic data. Forward-looking statements, however, are inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors that could cause business results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements; including any operational, cultural or financial difficulties resulting from the transaction. For a description of some of the other factors which may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements please refer to our 2012 Form 10-K, and in particular the discussions contained under Items 1 - Business, 1A - Risk Factors, 3 - Legal Proceedings, and 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements made herein.

Source: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

John W. Prosser, Jr.

Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration

626-578-6803