Bird Construction’s takeover of Stuart Olson is officially complete.

The firms announced the close of the $96-million transaction on September 25 after the companies completed their respective due diligence, and the transaction was given the green light by the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta.

The acquisition, which was announced in late July, was originally scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. On September 8, however, Stuart Olson announced that the companies had received a no-action letter from the Competition Bureau, meaning that the regulator would not challenge the agreement.

"This is a tremendously exciting day as two great organizations have come together to form a Canadian construction industry leader that is poised to excel across diversified services, end-markets and geographies," said Teri McKibbon, President and CEO of Bird. "Everything about this combination – from an operating, financial and cultural perspective – works, where the result is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Our two organizations have worked exceptionally well on the integration, and we will hit the ground running."

The completion of the transaction gives birth to a company that now ranks among the 10 largest in the country. Based on 2019 performance, the combined revenues of the merged company is $2.3 billion. The firms will share a workforce of approximately 5,000 people and count a project backlog worth $3 billion.