BALFOUR Beatty has terminated talks with Carillion regarding a possible merger.
The move follows what Balfour Beatty described as “Carillion’s wholly unexpected decision to only progress the possible merger in the event that Parsons Brinckerhoff remained part of the potential combined entity”.
Balfour Beatty say this change is contrary to the basis upon which they agreed to engage in preliminary discussions. It is also contrary to the joint announcement released on 24 July which confirmed that the sale of Parsons Brinckerhoff would be unaffected by the merger discussions
Balfour Beatty will now proceed in accordance with its own business plan, including the competitive sale process of Parsons Brinckerhoff currently well underway. It will also continue to actively progress its search for a Group CEO.
The shock merger talks followed an approach from Carillion to Balfour Beatty and both boards said they believed a merger of the two groups had the potential to create a market leading services, investments, and construction business of considerable depth and scale.
