Strabag to buy Van Elle in £58.8m deal

(Sharecast News) - AIM-listed ground engineering contractor Van Elle said on Thursday that it has agreed to be bought by the UK arm of Vienna-listed construction firm Strabag in a £58.8m deal. Under the terms of the acquisition, Strabag will pay 52.3p per share in cash. This is a premium of 58.5% to the closing share price on Wednesday.

Van Elle said it had considered a wide range of factors when appraising the proposal from Strabag UK, including the certainty the acquisition offers shareholders when compared to the inherent risks and uncertainties in the execution and delivery of its standalone strategy.

For its part, Strabag UK said complementary client relationships and end markets, particularly in the residential, water, energy and transport sectors, "create attractive cross-selling opportunities, broaden the combined civil engineering offering around ground engineering works, and generate revenue synergies".

Van Elle chairman Frank Nelson said: "While strongly positioned in a number of key markets, broader sector and macro-economic issues have impacted value creation opportunities.

"Given the ongoing cycle, the Van Elle board believes that the offer not only represents a significant premium, it also provides shareholders with the certainty of cash consideration and Van Elle's customer base with a supportive sector specialist owner focused on developing its product offering."

At 0900 BST, the shares were up 54.6% at 51.01p.

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