Plans appear to be afoot for a merger between two engineering firms, with reports New York’s Jacobs Engineering Group is looking to acquire Australian engineering consulting firm Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM).

Some newspaper reports have this week quoted an alleged insider to the deal who says the two companies could settle on a price around $1 billion.

The notoriously close-knit SKM’s last reported revenue was $1.3 billion, according to S&P Capital IQ. The company was formed in 1964 and now has 40 offices across Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The buy-out would be the second big score for Jacobs this year, after the US firm's purchase of wireless telecommunications group Compass Technology Services in June. Jacobs’ last reported annual revenue was $11.4 billion; the company is known to provide technical services to markets like defence, infrastructure, mining, energy and pharmaceuticals.