M&A

The competition watchdog has greenlit the merger of two component suppliers, which it previously said risked pushing up concrete prices. Swiss multinational Sika agreed in November 2021 to buy Germany’s MBCC for £4.5bn. The companies are the UK’s two largest suppliers of chemical admixtures, which are key to the process…

Builders’ merchant Jewson has been sold to a Danish firm for £740m. The construction retailer was founded in 1836 and has been owned by French company Saint-Gobain since 2000. It currently has 600 branches in the UK. Saint-Gobain exchanged contracts with Stark Group for the former’s its entire distribution business,…

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…