Carillion confirms offers for part of UK business

Troubled infrastructure and support services group Carillion has confirmed it has received a number of offers to acquire its UK Healthcare business.

The Wolverhampton company has been in crisis since July when it issued a major profits warning that sent its share price plummeting.
Late last month it published its interim results, which showed losses in excess of £1bn.

It also published details of a structural review of the business and potential aspects of the business which may be sold off to try and reduce costs – one of these was its Healthcare business.

In a statement to the markets today, the company said: “In view of media speculation about a possible sale of Carillion’s UK Healthcare business, the board of Carillion confirms that, consistent with Carillion’s announcement on September 29, 2017, it has received proposals from more than one credible counterparty for a possible acquisition of that business.”

The announcement had an immediate impact on the company’s share price, which saw a rise of more than 6%.

It said it would a further announcement when appropriate.

It had said in its interims results that a key outcome of the strategic review had been to refocus the business on its core strengths.

“As a result we are raising our target for non-core disposal proceeds to over £300m by the end of 2018 from our initial target announced in July of £125m. In particular, discussions regarding the sale of the Group’s UK Healthcare business and the business in Canada are both ongoing,” it said.