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The acquisition will make Devereux, which is owned by Irish engineer PM Group, one of the 20 largest architects in the UK, comparable in size to Allies and Morrison and Hamiltons.

It comes as some analysts have predicted that the number of mergers and acquisitions among architects will rise during 2009, as companies join forces to combat the recession.

Devereux purchased Dewjo鈥檆 for an undisclosed mix of cash and shares. Nic Allen, managing director, said the deal would allow Devereux to compete for larger projects in the healthcare, schools and medical research sectors.

He said: 鈥淐lients are bundling up processes into bigger packages. It is difficult to maintain workload without the resources to back it up. This joining together will allow us to compete on a higher level.鈥�

The firms said there would be no job losses from the deal.

Peter Walker, the managing director of Dewjo鈥檆, said the deal was not done out of necessity. He said: 鈥淒ewjo鈥檆 has been bucking the trend. We have taken six new people on in the past few months, and we would be expecting turnover growth for this year even without the merger. This is about opportunity, not security.鈥�

Devereux is chiefly known for medical sector work, including work with HOK on the 拢1bn redevelopment of the Barts and Royal London hospitals.

David Pattison, a senior analyst at Plimsoll, said some architects were 鈥渨ounded animals鈥� ready to be bought by those with enough capital. He said: 鈥淭hese market conditions have presented an unprecedented set of opportunities to buy into a business that a year ago would have been unaffordable.鈥�