RMJM Group and Hillier Architecture Announce Merger

RMJM Group and Hillier Architecture Announce Merger

June 19, 2007

Creates World's Leading Design Architecture Firm

Truly Global Capabilities, with Leading Architects and
Offices on Four Continents

    EDINBURGH, Scotland and PRINCETON, N.J., June 19
/Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- In a milestone event for the
architectural design industry, RMJM, one of the world's
largest architectural practices, and Hillier, one of the
largest architectural design firms in the U.S., today
announced plans to merge their firms, creating a combined
entity with unprecedented depth of talent and global
reach.

    The merged firm creates a super-studio positioned to
deliver holistic architectural solutions anywhere in the
world, with offices in 16 cities across North America,
Europe, Asia and the Middle East, approximately 1,000
design professionals and more than $15 billion in
construction value of buildings currently under design.

    "Never before in the history of architecture have
clients had such a global depth of architectural talent to
meet their design aspirations," said Peter Morrison,
CEO of the RMJM Group. "The new firm will draw on a
skill set from our diverse and experienced professionals
that is unmatched and can be perfectly tailored to meet the
design needs of our client base."

    In North America, the firm will be branded as RMJM
Hillier and form the North American business of the RMJM
Group, with offices in New York City, Philadelphia,
Princeton, NJ, and Washington, DC.

    "The beauty of this partnership is that both firms
see design as a way of enhancing people's lives -- creating
livable, sustainable cities, fostering new ways of learning
and working -- and both have sophisticated clients in every
corner of the globe," says J. Robert Hillier, founder
and chairman of Princeton, N.J.-based Hillier Architecture.
"It's about more than having 1,000 architects
worldwide; what is significant is that we now have 250
architects on each of four continents. That's huge in terms
of our ability to understand the issues that face our
clients, work with them closely, and still bring a broader,
global perspective to everything we do."

    The combined entity will offer services in
architecture, interior design, master planning, urban
design, historic preservation, arts consultancy, land
planning, landscape design, graphics and computer
visualization. Regardless of industry sector, location or
client need, the firm can match the right minds to find the
right design solution and provide clients with the most
sophisticated resources in communication and technology.

    RMJM and Hillier are multi-award-winning firms with a
broad range of disciplines in the public and private
sectors. Together their past or current clients include:
Gazprom, China Merchant Bank, W Hotels, Beijing Olympic
Convention Center, Cornell University, Princeton
University, Oxford University, Cambridge University,
University of Colorado, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and
Sprint.

    The merger will be completed on June 19, 2007.

    EFCG, based in New York City, and Deloitte & Touche
acted as financial advisers to RMJM.  Dickson Minto of
Edinburgh and Burns Levinson of Boston acted as legal
counsel.  West Investment Banking of Pompano Beach, FL and
Mercadien Group of Princeton, NJ acted as financial
advisers to Hillier Architecture. Reed Smith of
Philadelphia, PA acted as legal counsel.

    About the RMJM Group

    RMJM is an international firm of architects with
offices throughout the UK, Asia and the Middle East. 
Founded in 1956 by renowned British architects Robert
Matthew and Stirrat Johnson-Marshall, today RMJM is one of
the world's largest architectural practices and employs
almost 700 people in 11 international offices:  Bangkok,
Beijing, Cambridge, Dubai, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hong Kong,
London, Moscow, Shanghai and Singapore.  Recently, the firm
has secured commissions in four of the world's rapidly
developing markets - China, India, Russia and Qatar --
providing the impetus for forthcoming offices in Abu Dhabi,
Delhi and Doha.  Visit www.rmjm.com

    About Hillier

    Founded in 1966, by J. Robert Hillier, FAIA, Hillier
Architecture is a 300-person international design firm
providing services in architecture, interior design, land
planning, strategic facilities planning, historic
preservation, urban design, landscape architecture and
graphic design through a network of offices in Princeton,
Philadelphia, New York, Washington, D.C. and Shanghai.
Design excellence and client-focused service are
cornerstones of the practice. Named "2006 Firm of the
Year" by the American Institute of Architects- New
Jersey Chapter, Hillier has received more than 300 awards
for design, leadership and environmental responsibility
over the past four decades. Visit http://www.hillier.com .


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