McKinsey buys Houston-based Strategic Estimating Systems
McKinsey & Company has acquired Strategic Estimating Systems (SES), a Houston-based consultancy focusing on cost estimation services for the oil and gas industry.
Founded in 2005, SES provides economic evaluation solutions and cost estimation services for the feasibility, frontend engineering & design (FEED), engineering-procurement-construction (EPC), and plant turnaround stages. The firm, which has 17 employees listed on LinkedIn, works with owner-operators and EPC companies in downstream, midstream, and upstream project execution and process plant development.
Since its founding, SES has expanded to also provide offerings in project management and project controls (scheduling, cost control, and schedule risk analysis) through an amalgamation of partners.
The firm has supported over 200 projects and 75+ companies across oil, gas, petrochemical, liquefied natural gas, pipeline, mining, life sciences, and chemical process industries.
McKinsey says acquiring the boutique firm will help it advise clients on the green energy transition.
"The capital projects ecosystem is presented with a once-in-a-generation chance to aid in transforming economies to achieve net zero. By integrating SES's unmatched capabilities, we're not only enhancing our sustainability services, such as carbon capture, but also expanding the scope of our existing Capital Excellence capabilities to crucial industries and wider geographies," said Justin Dahl, partner and global leader of McKinsey & Company's capital analytics. "This allows our clients to gain an independent perspective on value, cost, and timing at every phase of the capital project lifecycle, thereby improving bottom-up estimating. Committed to innovation and excellence, this acquisition empowers us to explore new value dimensions and further refine our expertise in bottom-up estimating for our clients."
The integration of SES’ industry benchmarks will enable McKinsey’s capital analytics team to deliver capital cost estimates with greater accuracy and speed, the firm said in a press release.
“McKinsey is unparalleled in developing scalable and sustainable transformation strategies, leveraging industry leading insight and expertise in capital excellence,” said Mike Monteith, founder and CEO of SES, who joins McKinsey as leader of capital analytics. “By working together, we will amplify our strengths, driving greater impact for clients at every stage of the capital project lifecycle, and delivering end-to-end transformations that create lasting value.”
McKinsey in 2022 acquired SCM Connections, a Chicago-based supply chain consulting firm.
