FCC buys Alpine

FCC has agreed to pay € 480 million for an 80,7% stake in Alpine Mayreder Bau, Austria's second-largest construction group. Alpine expects revenues of € 2,01 billion in 2006 and projected Earnings Before Interest, Tax and Amortisation (EBITA) of € 115 million. Its order backlog is expected to total € 2,8 billion by the time the deal is complete.

The announcement follows FCC's acquisition of Austrian environmental services company ASA from the French energy company EDF for € 224 million, and Czech water company Severomoravské Vodovody a Kanalizace Ostrava, (SmVaK) for € 248 million.

FCC is expected to integrate Alpine into its existing operations and, according to a company spokesman, will use all three acquisitions as a “springboard for expansion” in Central and Eastern Europe.