Leonard Green nears Cumming deal
Private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners is reportedly close to a roughly $3 billion acquisition of construction consultancy Cumming Group, reflecting continued sponsor interest in infrastructure‑adjacent professional services. The move highlights consolidation where operational playbooks and tuck‑in opportunities can shape exit optionality. (x.com)
Leonard Green & Partners is nearing a deal to buy Cumming Group for about $3 billion, according to a report published April 12 by the Financial Times and picked up by Bloomberg on April 11. (bloomberg.com) Cumming is a construction consultancy, not a builder: it advises owners on project management, cost control, disputes and scheduling for developments including transportation, data centers, healthcare and hospitality projects. The company says it has more than 2,500 employees across more than 60 offices worldwide. (cumming-group.com; cumming-group.com) The seller is New Mountain Capital, which announced a growth investment in Cumming in December 2021. New Mountain now says it manages about $60 billion across private equity, credit and net lease strategies. (cumming-group.com; newmountaincapital.com) Cumming spent the past two years buying specialist firms to widen its reach in markets that still have large public and private construction budgets. In November 2024 it added infrastructure consultancy BTTC, and in April 2025 it merged with semiconductor advisory firm World Wide Professional Services. (cumming-group.com; cumming-group.com) It kept adding local scale after that. Cumming said in October 2025 that LeftField joined the group, a move it said doubled its size in New England and expanded work with schools, municipalities and life sciences clients. (cumming-group.com) That deal logic is familiar in private equity because consultancies can grow through tuck-in acquisitions without taking on the construction risk that contractors carry on fixed-price jobs. Cumming describes its role as independent project and cost advice for owners, developers and lenders rather than performing the build itself. (cumming-group.com; cumming-group.com) Leonard Green is one of the larger buyout firms still active in business services. The Los Angeles firm said in February 2026 that it manages more than $75 billion and has completed more than 160 investments since its 1989 founding. (leonardgreen.com) A roughly $3 billion price would put Cumming among the larger recent sponsor-backed bets on infrastructure-adjacent services, where revenue is tied to project pipelines in sectors such as transport, energy, semiconductors and data centers. Cumming lists all four among its target markets and recent acquisition themes. (bloomberg.com; cumming-group.com; cumming-group.com) No transaction has been formally announced by Leonard Green, New Mountain or Cumming. Until that happens, the reported price and timing remain subject to change, but the asset already shows the shape buyers want: recurring advisory work, fragmented competitors and room for more acquisitions. (bloomberg.com; cumming-group.com)
