By Mike Benbow
Herald Writer
BOTHELL — A Canadian company has bought out a Bothell subsidiary of bankrupt Enron, and plans to move its headquarters here.
The Canadian company, SNC-Lavalin Constructors Inc., announced Friday that it will take over Bothell-based Nepco’s power plant contracts and hire its employees.
Nepco, or the National Energy Production Corp., has a workforce of some 5,000 employees around the world. It was founded in 1938 and was purchased by Enron in 1997. Last year, it was the fifth largest power plant builder in the United States, with $1.2 billion in revenue.
Since Enron was forced into bankruptcy, however, the company has struggled and been forced to cut back. Last month it laid off about 40 employees at its headquarters.
Details of the deal were sketchy.
"We have been awarded contracts by Nepco and its clients that Nepco formerly had been working on for a while, said Gillian MacCormack, vice president of public relations for Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., parent of SNC-Lavalin Constructors. "This is all we can say at the moment."
The contracts involve eight gas-fired thermal power plants in the United States and total some $900 million, SNC-Lavalin said in a press release.
SNC-Lavalin Constructors has hired approximately 5,100 Nepco employees, including the former management team, the company said in a press release. The new company will be located in Bothell, and be headed up by John Gillis, former president of Nepco.
Officials at the Nepco building had no comment Friday.
"It has always been part of our strategic plan to strengthen our presence in the thermal power sector, and these agreements provide us with the opportunity to meet that goal," said Jacques Lamarre, president and chief executive of SNC-Lavalin.
The company employs some 14,000 people.
"SNC-Lavalin is internationally recognized as a world leader in hydroelectric and nuclear power generation and power transmission, Lamarre said.
"The former Nepco team’s know-how and experience, combined with SNC-Lavalin’s existing thermal power expertise and extensive international network, now position us as a leader in the thermal power sector, both in North America and around the world," he said.
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