Ingérop acquires Fer-Play to expand French rail-engineering capacity

French engineering group Ingérop has acquired Fer-Play, a rail-infrastructure consultancy, in a move to expand its railway engineering work in France. Ingérop announced the acquisition on 22 October, saying the deal strengthens its skills and regional presence. The companies did not disclose the purchase price or transaction structure. Fer-Play will remain an independent subsidiary, continuing under its existing team and leadership.

Founded in 2016, Fer-Play advises businesses, local authorities and public contracting bodies on rail projects. Its work spans project management and assistance to project owners. The company has more than 50 employees and annual revenue exceeding €7 million, according to Ingérop. Its technical fields include track, electric traction and signaling across railways, tramways and metro systems.

Fer-Play has several locations in France, allowing it to work near project sites and support infrastructure renewal and modernization across the country. Ingérop cites work for SNCF Réseau and SNCF Voyageurs, as well as urban transport networks in Bordeaux, Paris and Strasbourg. Fer-Play also works on port rail infrastructure. The company lists design studies, work planning, track, overhead electrification, railway structures and signaling among its areas of activity.

The acquisition adds French capacity to Ingérop’s existing international railway engineering portfolio. The group points to prior purchases of T&RS in the United Kingdom and Auxitec in Spain. It says Fer-Play will help increase its project-management resources, local intervention capacity and ability to respond to development and renewal needs in France, including projects for SNCF. The release describes a capability expansion rather than naming a new contract awarded as part of the transaction.

Ingérop identifies three projects on which the two companies are already working together: construction project management for the Tram-Train de l’Ouest lyonnais, modernization of the Nice–Breil-sur-Roya line, which returned to service at the end of 2025, and modernization of the rail line between Le Puy-en-Velay and Firminy, recently won by the group. These references indicate existing collaboration, not three new awards announced with the acquisition.

Fer-Play’s current leaders and shareholders, Vincent Bourne and Théo Le Bars, remain in charge as subsidiary director and deputy director. Ingérop says the subsidiary will maintain its team and continue developing its business. The company’s stated rationale is to preserve Fer-Play’s operational identity while giving its staff access to larger group projects, new clients and career opportunities.

The transaction fits an engineering market where rail networks require both new infrastructure and modernization of existing assets. Ingérop frames its purchase as strengthening expertise in construction project management and geographic proximity to clients. The release does not give a post-acquisition staffing target, combined railway revenue, expected synergies, integration budget or timetable for future projects.

Fer-Play’s scale gives a sense of the business being added: more than 50 employees and revenue above €7 million. These figures describe Fer-Play before or at the announcement and should not be read as a forecast for the combined company. The immediate structural change is ownership within Ingérop while the subsidiary remains independent, with its existing managers retained. The next commercial effects will depend on project awards and delivery capacity, none of which are quantified in the announcement.