M&A

Farrans has been subject to a strategic review by its parent company that could see the business sold. The £362.5m turnover civils and building contractor is part of Belfast-based Northstone (NI), which is a subsidiary of materials giant CRH, owner of Tarmac. Farrans is based in Northern Ireland and works…

The Competition and Markets Authority has closed its investigation into French industrial giant Bouygues’ acquisition of construction-services firm Equans for €6.1bn. Bouygues agreed to acquire Equans from fellow French firm Engie in November for an initial price of €6.5bn, which, when factoring in net debt, resulted in a final purchase price…

Vistry’s £1.27bn takeover of Countryside Partnerships has been completed. The deal, first announced in September, combines two of the UK’s largest housebuilders. The takeover is the latest in a string of mergers and acquisitions by Vistry, which, as the former Bovis Homes, doubled in size when it acquired Galliford Try's…

Keltbray has bought Idec Group, a high-voltage-power engineering business that provides electrical substation design, construction and commissioning services up to 275kV. Its work includes digital systems engineering for grid protection, control, supervision and data acquisition to the energy networks, renewable energy and energy-storage markets. Stockton-on-Tees-headquartered Idec employs 138 people. In…

Amey’s new owner faces a major challenge to achieve the kinds of returns it would like from the company, an expert has warned. Current owner Ferrovial announced yesterday it had reached an agreement to sell its stake in the contractor, aside from its waste treatment business. The buyer is a…

A former chief executive of Amey is spearheading a consortium looking to snap up the contractor from its Spanish owners for £220m, it has been reported.  Former CEO Andy Milner is involved in talks with Amey’s parent company Ferrovial about a buyout of the business, according to Sky News. The…

The insulation and solar power arm of the UK's largest roofing specialist, which entered administration last week, has been acquired by a private investor – saving all 100 jobs in the division. Avonside Energy was one of the 39 divisions which fell into administration last week when the wider Avonside…

Housebuilder Vistry has revealed plans to buy rival Countryside in a deal totalling £1.25bn. Vistry, formerly known as Bovis Homes, has offered 249p per share for Countryside. This represents a 9.1 per cent premium on the 228p closing share price on Friday (2 September) for the rival housebuilder. In a…

Cambridge-based M&E contractor CPS Building Services has been acquired by US private equity firm HIG Capital. The specialist, which turned over £24.6m in the year to January 2021 and made a pre-tax profit of £4m, is the first of a number of purchases planned by the American investor, which has…

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has raised concerns over competition on HS2 bidding due to the proposed merger of Bouygues and Equans. In November 2021, Bouygues struck a £6bn deal to buy Equans, the construction and services business owned by Engie, including the latter’s UK Regeneration and facilities-management arms.…