Press Release: Lewis Silkin advises Systra Group on its acquisition of SIAS Ltd

Established in 1974, SIAS is a leading transport planning consultancy focusing on public sector clients. It operates primarily in Scotland, from two offices in Edinburgh (HQ) and Perth. SIAS's consultancy projects generally relate to traffic impact studies and road scheme design for Transport Planning (policy and strategy development, sustainable travel planning, transportation modelling) and Planning Support (rural development advice, urban regeneration, new retail, industrial or residential developments and special events operations).

Systra is a subsidiary of RATP and SNCF and has worked in the Mass Transit and Rail market since 1957. The Group's ambition is to serve the new needs for collective, sustainable mobility, all over the world. With revenues of circa 550 million Euros in 2015, the company employs more than 5,000 people worldwide. It is currently working on over 3,500 projects and has assisted in building half of the world’s metro systems.

As happened with Systra’s previous acquisition, the bilingual and bi-national team at Lewis Silkin’s French Desk worked hand in hand with the Franco-British M&A team of Systra Group. The French Desk team was led by corporate partner and Head of the French Desk Marie-Caroline Frochot, supported by corporate tax partner Matthew Rowbotham, corporate senior associate Laura May, real estate associate Jon Ely and IP and technology associate Sarah Lampard.

The deal adds to the growing number of transactions completed by Lewis Silkin’s dedicated French Desk. Since October 2014 when Marie-Caroline joined Lewis Silkin, the French Desk team has negotiated more than 20 transactions for French clients.

Commenting on the project, Head of the French Desk, Marie-Caroline Frochot, said:

“We are proud to have supported SYSTRA on this second key acquisition as part of the Group’s growth plan and expansion in the UK. With the acquisition of SIAS, Systra has secured its position as leader in the transport planning market. This is an exciting period for the sector in the UK. This transaction follows other significant cross border transactions in 2015 for French clients of Lewis Silkin which is now a destination practice for French companies developing their business in the UK.

We constantly think of new ways to improve our services to our French clients and to increase the level of resources and expertise in the firm dedicated to them, as shown by the recent arrival of French dual qualified technology partner Dr. Nathalie Moreno.”

Systra was also advised by Frenger Corporate Finance and PWC.

For further information please contact:

Siobhan Moriarty
Tel: 020 7074 8365
Email: siobhan.moriarty@lewissilkin.com