Amec sells Spie for €w 1 billion

Amec Has Sold Its French Electrical Engineering subsidiary Amec Spie to private investment group PAI Partners for UK£ 707 million (€ 1,04 billion). The deal is expected to reach financial close in the third quarter of the year, netting Amec a UK£ 220 million (€ 324 million) exceptional profit. Amec says it will use the proceeds to pay down its debt.

Spie employs 23000 people across 380 locations in Europe. Last year it had sales of UK£ 1,76 billion (€ 2,58 billion) and made a pre-tax profit of UK£ 49,7 million (€ 70,5 million). The transaction is now subject to a consultation process between Amec Spie's management and its workers' council. Following the deal Jean Monville, the current chairman of Amec Spie, will resign from the board of Amec to run Spie for PAI.

Amec announced plans to divest Amec Spie in November. According to the company, the sale forms part of its plans to restructure into two separate businesses, one focused on the energy and process industries and one targeting work in the UK infrastructure sector.

PAI is a private investment company with offices in London, Madrid, Milan and Paris. Its portfolio of companies is worth more than € 7 billion, and within the construction sector it owns Perstorp, a supplier to the paint and resin industries and Saur, a key player in the French water and waste water sector.

PAI senior partner, Bertrand Meunier said, “We are very pleased to have agreed on the terms of the acquisition of AMEC SPIE, a very well positioned company with a strong company spirit, an excellent business model and an outstanding management team. We consider that the company has excellent growth prospects and is a strong platform for acquisitions.”