Carillion’s continued courting of Balfour Beatty has come to no avail as a final revised offer of a proposed merger was rejected last week.

Carillion had offered Balfour Beatty shareholders a 36% premium and asked for an extension to a ‘put up or shut up’ deadline of 5pm last Thursday to allow discussions to continue.

But the board of Balfour Beatty rejected the proposal saying it was not in the best interests of its shareholders. Dispute over the company’s intended sale of Parsons Brinckerhoff was  again a stumbling block to any deal.

Collapse of the proposed merger did not shock one senior transportation figure. “Given the ongoing and very public nature of this story it is not entirely surprising that the deal has fallen apart,” he said. “And it is difficult to judge whether this deal would have been a good thing for the industry, as it would have changed the competitive landscape.

“I know there was concern among some staff at Balfour Beatty about what was going on, so hopefully now they can draw breath, settle down and get on with their jobs,” he added.

Elsewhere, Hyder Consulting’s stock continues to rise after it accepted a fresh takeover offer from Dutch firm Arcadis. The latest deal offers Hyder’s shareholders 730p a share, valuing Hyder at £288M.

This is 50p a share more than Japanese consultant Nippon Koei offered Hyder and had agreed two weeks ago, and 80p more than an initial offer from Arcadis for Hyder at the end of July.

Hyder’s chief executive Ivor Catto said: “The Hyder board has no hesitation in unanimously recommending Arcadis’ increased offer.”

To return to the newsletter, please close this window.