BUSINESSHIGHLIGHTS
US
Aecom goes buying
ConsultantmakesUS$4billion offer for URS and
also snaps upHunt ConstructionGroup
E
ngineering design company Aecom has agreed to acquire fellowUS
consultant engineer URS Corporation for US$ 4 billion in cash and
shares.Aecomwill alsoassumeURS’sdebt, taking the total transaction
value to someUS$6billion.
Under the terms of the deal, Aecom will pay US$ 56.31 per URS share,
which represents a 19% premium on the 30-day average share price leading
up to the merger announcement on July 11. This will be made up of
US$33.00 in cash and0.734Aecom shares.However,URS shareholders can
elect to receive all cashor all shares for their existing stock. Aecom said itwas
aiming for anoverallmix of 59% cash and41% shares in the transaction.
In a separate deal, Aecom has acquired the US$ 1.2 billion per year
constructionmanager Hunt ConstructionGroup.The value of the deal for
the privately-held companywas not disclosed.
Hunt is best known as a builder of stadiums and other sports facilities.
However, it is also active in the health care, aviation, commercial and tall
buildings sectors.
The addition of both companies to Aecomwill give it annual revenues in
the regionofUS$20billion, with95,000 employees in150 countries.
UK
Stalledmerger
Balfour Beatty has rebuffed three
takeover offers from UK rival
Carillion. Although talks were
initially
constructive,
Balfour
Beatty’s proposed sale of itsUS arm,
Parsons Brinckerhoff, emerged as a
deal-breaker. Carillion’s final offer
valued Balfour Beatty at just over
UK£2billion (US$3.3billion).
Balfour Beatty is the UK’s
largest contractor. It was ranked
no. 9 in
Construction Europe’s
CE
-
100 ranking of Europe’s largest
contractors and no. 26 in (
iC’s
)
ranking of the world’s top 200
construction companies. Carillion
was no. 25 in this year’s
CE
-100 and
no. 70 in the
iC
Top200.
Brazil
Cement sales
Holcim and Lafarge have proposed
selling three integrated cement
plants, two grinding stations and a
ready-mixed concrete plant inBrazil
to help win regulatory approval for
their plannedmerger.
The proposal has been put to
Conselho Administrativo de Defesa
Econômica (CADE) as part of pre-
merger negotiations and will now
be subject to review and further
discussion.
In a separate development Lafarge
has agreed to sell its controlling
stake in Lafarge Pakistan Cement
to Bestway Cement for US$ 329
million. Lafarge Pakistan Cement
is quoted on the Karachi, Lahore
and Islamabad stock exchanges, and
Lafarge is selling its 75.86% stake in
the business.
US
Mining impact
Caterpillar had revenues of US$
14.2 billion for the second quarter
of the year, a -3% decline on the
same period last year. Although
the company’s sales of construction
equipmentwereup+11%compared
to a year ago, it was a weak quarter
for theResources Industriesdivision,
which is focussed on the mining
sector.The company’s net profit for
thequarterwas up+4%on the same
period last year atUS$999million.
VALUEOF 1:
SYMBOL AU$
BRL
UK£ CNY
€
INR
YEN MXN RUR SAR
ZAR KRW CHF
US$
AustralianDollar
AU$
0.47 0.564 5.75 0.708 56.4
97
12.26 33.8
3.50
9.99
950 0.857 0.935
BrazilianReal
BRL
2.12
0.266 2.71 0.334 26.6
45.8
5.77
15.9
1.65
4.71
447 0.404 0.440
BritishPound
UK£
1.77
3.76
10.2
1.26 100.1 172
21.7
59.9
6.21
17.7
1684 1.52
1.66
Chinese Yuan
CNY
0.174 0.369 0.098
0.123 9.81
16.9
2.13
5.87 0.609 1.737
165 0.149 0.162
Euro
€
1.41
3.00
0.80
8.12
79.7
137
17.3
47.7
4.95 14.10 1341 1.21
1.32
IndianRupee
INR
0.018 0.038 0.010 0.102 0.013
1.7
0.217 0.598 0.0621 0.177 16.8 0.0152 0.0166
Japanese Yen
YEN
0.010 0.022 0.006 0.059 0.007 0.580
0.1260 0.347 0.0360 0.1027 9.8 0.0088 0.0096
MexicanPeso
MXN
0.082 0.173 0.046 0.469 0.058 4.60
7.93
2.75 0.286 0.815
77
0.070 0.0762
RussianRuble
RUR
0.030 0.063 0.017 0.170 0.021 1.67
2.88 0.363
0.104 0.296 28.1 0.0254 0.0277
Saudi Riyal
SAR
0.285 0.606 0.161 1.641 0.202 16.107 27.760 3.499 9.635
2.85
271 0.245 0.267
SouthAfricanRand ZAR
0.100 0.213 0.056 0.576 0.071 5.650 9.738 1.227 3.380 0.351
95
0.086 0.094
SouthKoreanWon KRW
0.0011 0.0022 0.0006 0.0061 0.0007 0.0594 0.1024 0.0129 0.0356 0.0037 0.0105
0.00090 0.0010
Swiss Franc
CHF
1.17
2.48
0.66
6.71
0.83 65.87 113.52 14.31 39.40 4.09 11.66 1108
1.091
USDollar
US$
1.07 2.272 0.604 6.155 0.758 60.4 104.1 13.12 36.13 3.75 10.69 1016.12 0.917
For exampleUS$ 1=AU$ 1.07
Exchange rates: August 2014
UK
Miller Group has agreed to sell its
UK£ 409million (US$680million) per
year construction division to domestic
rival Galliford Try for UK£16.6million
(US$ 27.7million). The deal will
include the business’s cash balance
of UK£ 23million (US$38.3million),
meaningMiller is effectively paying
Galliford Try to take this loss-making
division off its hands.
GERMANY
Road building equipment
manufacturerWirtgen has bought
a 70% stake inBenninghoven, a
privately-owned, Germany-based
maker of asphaltmixing plants.
Wirtgen–which also owns the Vögele,
Hamm andKleemann construction
equipment brands – said adding
Benninghoven complimented its
existing portfolio.
RUSSIA
Rasperia Trading, a
subsidiary of Russian businessman
OlegDeripaska conglomerateBasic
Element has increased its shareholding
inStrabag from 19.4% to 25% plus
one share. The
€
123million (US$ 164
million) deal takes Basic Element’s
interest inStrabag back to the level it
was at in early 2009.
PORTUGAL
ContractorMota-Engil
has suspended the initial public
offering (IPO) of shares in its subsidiary
Mota-Engil Africa due toweakening
stockmarket conditions. The London,
UK floatation could have netted it
UK£405million (US$700million) had
all the shares been subscribed at the
top of the price range.
international
construction
september 2014
BUSINESSNEWS
10
UK
Arcadis beatsNipponKoei to get Hyder
Arcadis has agreed tobuyUK-based
engineer Hyder Consulting for
UK£ 288 million (US$ 489
million). The Dutch company had
to increase its initial offer followinga
rival bid from Japan’s NipponKoei.
Hyder’s Board has recommended
the increasedoffer to shareholders.
The end of July saw Arcadis offer
UK£6.50 (US$11.00) per share for
Hyder, valuing it UK£ 256 million
(US$435million).Thiswas topped
just over a week later whenNippon
Koei came in with a UK£ 6.80
(US$ 11.56) per share offer. Arcadis
has now come back to the table
with a UK£ 7.30 (US$ 12.41) per
share offer, which values Hyder at
UK£ 288 million (US$ 489
million), amore than+12% increase
on its original bid, or an additional
UK£32million (US$54million).
