TRENTON, NJ-Birdsall Services, the troubled Monmouth County-based engineering firm, was sold at a bankruptcy auction today to the national firm, Partner Engineering and Science.

California-based Partner will pay $5.6 million for the majority of Birdsall's assets, according to the deal approved in US Bankruptcy Court in Newark. Partner Assessment Corp., the parent company, will also make additional payments based on revenue and accounts receivable. Birdsall filed for bankruptcy in March.

In a statement, Partner said it would take over the Birdsall name, complete the company's current contracts, and pursue future projects. "We are not going to engage in any pay to play," Partner's president, Joseph Derhake, said, a reference to Birdsall's alleged problems. "If we can't win the work based on merit alone, we don't want the work."

Derhake said the company is committed to keeping as many Birdsall employees as possible.

"They've been riding this out heroically and we're really excited to offer them a new home at Partner," Derhake was quoted as saying. When the allegations against Birdsall's executives went public, hundreds of projects were left hanging around New Jersey.

Ralph Orlando, who had been named CEO of Birdsall last year, has reported that employees worked throughout the turmoil, at first without promise of compensation, to keep the company alive for rebuilding.

Birdsall's briefly furloughed its 130 employees before a Chapter 11 filing was made. "I have been told by a number of clients who discontinued service that they will look to undertake new contracts with Partner once the sale is finalized,” Orlando said Wednesday. Birdsall has an extensive history in the state, having engineered projects such as the W Hoboken Hotel, the Pier Village development in Long Branch and Union City High School.

Partner, which has New Jersey offices in Ramsey and Red Bank, is based in Torrance, CA. It has recently been expanding in New England. The six-year-old company currently employs about 250 people in 24 offices. Birdsall is based in Eatontown.

Instant Insights /

Partner Engineering Will Buy Birdsall

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