Royal Philips Electronics is Europe's largest electronics company and one of the biggest worldwide. According to the proposed four-year contract, Arcadis Aqumen will provide facility management services for 7 million sf (650,000 square meters) of building space.

Approximately 60 employees of Philips' facility management operations will be transferred to Arcadis Aqumen once the final contract is signed. Additionally, as part of the agreement, Mowlem Aqumen will assign key staff from the U.K. to the Netherlands, and Arcadis will provide support with additional project management capabilities or technical expertise if so required.

Negotiations are expected to be completed this summer. Because of start-up costs, the contract will contribute to Arcadis' earnings starting in 2004. Financial details were not disclosed.