Shares in construction group Carillion rose in early trade on Monday as a newspaper report sparked rumours of a bid from Swedish construction giant Skanska AB.
The Observer said Skanska was preparing to bid for a major UK building firm and identified Carillion as a possible target, along with Balfour Beatty and AMEC.
Carillion shares gained 8.5p or 7.1% to 127.5p by 7.35am, while Balfour and AMEC also ticked higher. Skanska, which in the past two weeks has bought building groups in the US and the Czech Republic, told The Observer it had a £1bn ($1.5bn) war chest and hoped to strike a deal soon.
“We’ve always regarded the UK as an attractive market,” Peter Wallin, Skanska’s head of investor relations, was quoted as saying. “Over the past two years, we have approached a couple of companies, but it’s been hard to reach deals even though the price of the sector has slumped. The UK still is interesting to us, though, and we would like to agree something soon.”
A spokeswoman for Carillion had no immediate comment on the report.
EGi News 14/08/00
