A takeover by Jacobs is looking more likely:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/07/29/ch2m-snapped-rival-jacobs-deal-set-earn-huge-windfalls-executives/
'Ms Hinman's contract also stipulates she holds shares worth five times her annual $1m salary, further boosting the windfall she will receive on completion of the deal'. No surprises there. The rest of us face potential job insecurity.
Will Jacobs honour the pension commitments?
On 23rd July 2017, the Telegraph was saying:
CH2M's takeover in danger of derailment
"A potential purchase of CH2M, the engineering consultancy involved in some of the UK's biggest infrastructure works, could be scuppered by a host of troubles the business faces ... that could see Jacobs abandon a deal or negotiate a knock-down price, including:
● the over-running MoPac toll road project in Texas
● construction of a power plant in Australia which CH2M pulled its staff off at the start of the year, with the project suffering huge delays."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/07/23/ch2ms-takeover-danger-derailment/
A report in the Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/2017/07/21/ch2m-engineering-colorado-texas-jacobs-engineering-group/) which implies that Jacobs don't want to repeat CH2M's trick of paying too much.
The Engineering News-Record (26 July 2017) contains a similar report:
http://www.enr.com/articles/42407-how-costly-projects-are-forcing-ch2m-to-weigh-a-buyout
https://www.wsj.com/articles/jacobs-engineering-nears-deal-to-buy-ch2m-hill-1501646460
'A cash-and-stock deal for the engineering-services firm is expected to be announced Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said'.
According to HPS letter 4 August on the HPS2 website:
'However, the important point for HPS2 at the moment is that the takeover will
not of itself change any of the arrangements currently in place for supporting and operating the
scheme. '
Lets hope so.