Carillion hits back at Balfour Beatty move

Balfour Beatty, the UK’s largest contractor, said this week that it had called off merger discussions because of Carillion’s “wholly unexpected decision” to go ahead with the possible merger only if Parsons Brinckerhoff remained part of the potential combined entity.

Carillion responded by saying it was surprised by Balfour Beatty’s reaction as the work to date had led to “increased confidence in the potential to realise very material value for the benefit of both sets of shareholders”.

Carillion said its board had concluded, on the basis of analysis to date, that for the combination to satisfy Carillion’s requirements as set out in an announcement a week ago, it would be essential to retain the stability and dependability of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s earnings.

In May, Balfour Beatty announced that it was considering selling Parsons Brinckerhoff, the US$2 million (€1.5 million) a year US engineering company it bought in 2009.

This week, Carillion said its board continued to believe in the powerful strategic rationale of a combination and the capability of such a combination to create very significant shareholder value.

Carillion said it would consider its position and make a further announcement in due course.