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After 23 years as a subsidiary of Greenman-Pedersen Inc., Morris Plains-based engineering firm Keller & Kirkpatrick Inc. will be absorbed by its parent, the companies announced on June 22.

All of the New Jersey company’s engineers, surveyors, planners and landscape architects will become part of GPI’s 1,600-strong staff of professionals. GPI, which is based in Babylon, N.Y., acquired Keller & Kirkpatrick in 1997.

Matthew Martini, the target’s president, will serve as executive vice president and branch manager of GPI Morris Plains. “This merger brings additional depth and strength to our office’s ability to serve our clients and continue our long-term relationships,” he said in a statement.

“The parent company-subsidiary relationship has worked well for many years performing related, but somewhat different, services to a diverse client mix,” said Christer Ericsson, GPI‘s chief executive. “This merger allows GPI to continue to grow geographically while providing diversification in the depth of services that we can offer throughout New Jersey, now under the same brand.”

At the time of the original acquisition, Keller & Kirkpatrick’s then-president Robert Kirkpatrick said he was seeking to ensure stability for the firm. “In our business, small- to mid-size firms can”t last. You need to be broader,” he told NJBIZ.

GPI operates from 55 locations in 21 states; three of those offices are in New Jersey—Lebanon, Oceanview and Red Bank. Keller & Kirkpatrick was founded in 1972.