Kier offloads Mouchel Consulting for £75m
MOUCHEL Consulting, which has sites in Manchester and Liverpool, has been sold to WSP Global for £75m.
Mouchel was acquired in June 2015 by property and construction giant Kier Group and provides engineering, environment and asset management consultancy services to the infrastructure sector.
Kier announced that it was undertaking an evaluation of the strategic options for the Mouchel Consulting business including a possible disposal in July.
Mouchel – which has been involved in many infrastrustructure projects in the North, including the trans-Pennine tunnel – reported revenue of £125m generating an operating profit contribution of £8m and a profit before tax of £5m for the financial year ended June 30 2016.
The gross assets of the company, the subject of the disposal, were £29m.
The disposal is expected to result in an immediate profit of approximately £40m, subject to post-completion adjustments.
The net disposal proceeds will be retained by Kier for future investment purposes and to further reduce debt, supporting Kier’s Vision 2020 target of net debt to EBITDA ratio of less than 1x which was achieved ahead of schedule in 2016.
Haydn Mursell, chief executive of Kier, said: “Having completed the integration of Mouchel, we are well progressed with the simplification of our portfolio of businesses.
“The disposal of Mouchel Consulting continues this process and provides increased capital to focus on the opportunities across our core businesses which will underpin the Group’s future growth.”
