Virginia Firm Pays $9 Million in Cash for Westec Services

SAN DIEGO —  Westec Services, a 14-year-old environmental sciences and hazardous waste management firm that operates several geothermal and small power plants, on Wednesday was formally sold to a Virginia company for $9 million in cash.

ERC International of Fairfax, Va., might also pay an additional $4 million, depending on Westec’s pre-tax profits in 1987, according to Westec Chairman, Chief Executive and founder David L. Parkinson.

The acquisition was first announced in November. “We wanted to complete the deal before Dec. 31 to benefit” the more than 60 Westec shareholders, Parkinson said.

Westec, a private firm founded in 1972, employs about 300 people and is based just outside Sorrento Valley. The company provides professional and technical services in the fields of environmental sciences, hazardous waste management and defense and information systems.

Westec reported $10.5 million in sales for the six months ended Sept. 30, up 15% over the prior year’s comparable period.

The company will now operate as a business group of ERC, which employs 1,600 people and provides professional and technical services to the nuclear energy, information sciences and defense industries. ERC does not have an environmental sciences segment, which made the Westec acquisition attractive, officials said.

“We’re very complementary,” Parkinson said Wednesday. “We don’t overlap in terms of clientele or services.”