Balfour Beatty buys Cowlin Group for £52m

Balfour Beatty’s drive to strengthen its presence in the UK regional building and civil engineering sector is behind today’s announcement of the £52m acquisition of Cowlin Group.

Cowlin comes with a £20m cash balance.

Nick Higgs, chief executive of Cowlin, said that the move would allow the company to "grow and prosper in a highly competitive market". He added: "Various options were considered, with the decision being that the most realistic and workable solution was to seek a party to acquire Cowlin."

The move allows Geoff Ballard, former chief executive and now Cowlin chairman, to retire and it gives Higgs extra time to plough into Bristol Rovers, the football club where he is vice-chairman.

The Bristol-based group trades as Cowlin Construction. It operates in the south and southwest of England and also in Wales. Three additional offices are based in Cardiff, Plymouth and Yeovil.

Latest financial results show a turnover of £190m producing a pre-tax profit of £5m in the 12 months to the end of September 2006.

Cowlin’s projected turnover in the current year is £220m and work-in progress has a total value of more than £400m.

Ian Tyler, Balfour’s chief executive, said: “The acquisition establishes a strong base in an area where we currently have only a limited presence. Cowlin is well-established in its regional design and build, construction and refurbishment markets and has a strong management team which has made excellent progress in growing the business over recent years.”

Established in 1834, Cowlin has 300 staff and 150 directly-employed operatives.

In healthcare, it constructs general hospitals, special care units and teaching facilities. In commercial and industrial property, it is active in office developments, business parks, industrial units and headquarters buildings.

Cowlin has been building luxury private houses for more than 50 years. It also has a timber-frame division based in Wales.