LONDON: British construction company Carillion is in talks with Balfour Beatty on a possible merger that would create a £3bn ($5.1bn) group with the muscle to compete with rivals such as Spain’s Ferrovial and France’s Vinci.
The approach from Carillion follows a difficult 18 months for Balfour Beatty, which has had a series of profit warnings and lost its CEO Andrew McNaughton in May.
Carillion, with a market capitalisation of some £1.5bn before the talks were revealed, currently operates inBritain and Ireland, Middle East and North Africa and Canada.
A deal with Balfour, which operates in more than 80 countries providing construction, engineering and facilities management services, would significantly expand its international business. Carillion, which maintains British railways, roads and military bases, said in March that it planned to diversify its support services business into sectors such as oil, power distribution and highways maintenance.
Its projects include the redevelopment of London’s Battersea Power Station.
REUTERS
