14.12.18
Infrastructure giant Amey to be sold to private equity firm in new year
Infrastructure giant Amey is expected to be sold to a private equity firm in the new year, according to reports.
The Financial Times believes that Amey’s Spanish parent company, Ferrovial, is in talks with PAI Partners and Greybull Capital for the potential sale of the business—however, one source told the FT that Ferrovial “may need to package” Amey in with other parts of the business.
Reports surfaced last week of the Spanish infrastructure group looking to put its global support services division— which includes the Oxford-based Amey, and also Australian business Broadspectrum, which operates rigs for oil and gas clients— up on the market.
Ferrovial part-owns Heathrow Airport and has been heavily involved with work on the East Coast and Midland mainlines, as well as rail electrification around Manchester and Crossrail. Amey, Network Rail’s third biggest supplier in 2016-17, holds significant long-term government contracts – such as a £2.2.bn deal with Sheffield City Council, as well as a number of contracts with major infrastructure projects such as HS2 and the TransPennine route upgrade.
Despite successes in securing lucrative contracts, Amey has been hit with several varied losses in recent years, including a £48m loss to an M8 motorway upgrade in Scotland.
According to the FT, Amey could be sold either on its own, or as part of a larger sale of the Ferrovial global support services division— but management has not yet made a final decision on the sale.
Several private giants have been in the headlines recently: major player in construction Carillion was a key HS2 contractor before it went into liquidation earlier this year.
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