RNS Number : 0312W
Balfour Beatty PLC
05 June 2008
5 June 2008
BALFOUR BEATTY ACQUIRES BARNHART, THE LEADING CALIFORNIAN CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT COMPANY
FOR $116 MILLION
Balfour Beatty, the international engineering construction, services and investment group,
announces today that Heery International,
Balfour Beatty's US professional and technical services arm, has acquired Douglas E Barnhart
Inc (Barnhart) for a cash consideration of $116
million from management and family.
Barnhart is the largest programme management, construction management and building company
in San Diego and amongst the largest such
companies in California. It is the sixth largest education sector builder in the US as a
whole.
Commenting on the acquisition, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive Ian Tyler said:
"Heery International is already a national leader in the US public education sector.
California is one of the US's fastest growing
markets offering substantial opportunity in education and other construction management
markets. The addition of Barnhart substantially
enhances the Group's presence in education and in California, where we are already a major
player in civil engineering and construction
project management".
Barnhart provides a variety of risk averse delivery methods including design and build,
fee based construction management and programme
management. In addition to giving Heery a strong position in the important Greater San Diego
region in its main markets, it enhances the
potential of Heery's JCM project management operation, based in Los Angeles, which is also
addressing a fast growing design and build
market.
Barnhart is based in San Diego and employs 450 people. Its major clients include San Diego
State University, California State
University, University of California, Pasadena City College and San Diego Lindbergh Field
Airport. It is also active on major bond financed
school renovation and new build programmes for Poway, Oceanside, Tustin and Santee School
districts, amongst others.
The executive management team, including the President, the Director of Operations and the
Director of Business Development, have all agreed
to continue in their current roles.
In 2008, Barnhart was awarded the Associated General Contractors National 2008 Award for
Safety Excellence.
In the year to 30 September 2007, Barnhart had gross revenues of $530 million and
operating profits of $17 million, with gross assets of
$197 million. It has a confirmed order book of approximately $1.1 billion gross. At financial
close, it is anticipated that the company
will have a net cash balance in excess of $50 million. The consideration, which will be funded
from Balfour Beatty's own cash resources, is
based on a balance sheet with $35 million of net assets, with a dollar for dollar adjustment
against actual net assets acquired. An
additional $7 million will be paid for incremental tax benefits.
ENDS
Enquiries to: Tim Sharp
Tel: 020 7216 6884
www.balfourbeatty.com
Notes to Editors
1. Heery International is a 1,100 person architectural, design, engineering, programme
and construction management company with
annual revenues of $1.2 billion. It is actively engaged in design and construction projects
worth over $6 billion per year.
2. Heery has existing Californian operations in JCM and FPM, both acquired in 2005.JCM is one of Southern California*s premier
project management companies. FPM is its facilities, planning and management subsidiary. JCM
is particularly strong in higher education and
government markets. Major clients include Boeing, Canon, Nissan, the US Food and Drug
Administration, the University of California and
California State University.
3. Heery is the leader in the US K-12 education market. It has experience of over $20
billion of K-12 projects with over 160 schools
districts and has worked with Ohio, New Jersey and Arizona in managing state-wide build
programmes. It has worked on secondary education
projects at over 400 colleges and universities across the US.
4. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, the Group*s civil engineering and services provider
for the transportation and water
infrastructure markets, has a strong presence in California with a range of major current
projects underway including three major water
contracts with a total contract value of over $420 million and a number of highway and rail
construction contracts.
5. Balfour Beatty is a world-class engineering, construction, services and investment
business, well-positioned in infrastructure
markets which offer significant long-term growth. We work in partnership with sophisticated
customers who value the highest levels of
quality, safety and technical expertise. Our skills are applied in appropriate combinations to
meet individual customer needs.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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