BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS
US
Harsco and Brand
Energy to merge
Private equity firm will combine two of the world’s
biggest scaffolding businesses
U
S private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) is to merge
two of the world’s biggest scaffolding and formwork businesses after
acquiring Harsco Infrastructure from Harcso and Brand Energy from
First Reserve.
The new combined business will have revenues of US$ 3 billion and will be
run under the Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services name from its current
US head office.
Brand chairman and CEO Paul Wood will take charge of the combined
business, with other directors coming from both companies.
Harsco will be paid US$ 300 million in cash plus an equity stake in the new
business worth around US$ 225 million. First Reserve, the private equity firm
that acquired Brand Energy in 2007, has not disclosed the sale price.
PatrickDecker, Harsco president and CEO, said the sale of Infrastructure was
the first step in a “strategic transformation of Harsco.” He said it strengthened
the company’s finances and made it a less complex business, and that its equity
stake in the new Brand business would allow it to benefit in the future.
SAUDI ARABIA
Landbridge
Parsons Brinckerhoff and Fluor
have won a contract to provide
project management services for
the design and construction of a
new 950 km rail line. The state-
funded Saudi Landbridge project is
a double-track railway connecting
Jeddah on the Red Sea – the busiest
port in Saudi Arabia and a major
gateway for cargo from Europe and
North America – with the city of
Riyadh.
UK
Engine partners
Kohler is to supply three- and four-
cylinder engines from 31 kW to
55 kW to JCB for use in the
company’s range of compact
construction equipment. The water-
cooled Kohler Direct Injection
engines, which will be branded
JCB Diesel by Kohler, meet the
upcoming Tier 4 Final emissions
regulations without the need for a
diesel particulate filter.
SOUTH AFRICA
Profits rise
Contractor Aveng saw its net profits
rise +7% for the year to the end of
June, to ZAR 656 million (US$ 66
million). Revenues were up +27% to
ZAR 51.7 billion (US$ 5.2 billion).
The company’s order backlog
decreased -6% to ZAR 37.4 billion
(US$ 3.7 billion) compared with the
end of December last year. Aveng
said conditions in the South African
construction
and
engineering
markets remained challenging.
FRANCE
Contract wins
Bouygues has been awarded two
major contracts. Dragages Hong
Kong and Bouygues Travaux
Publics won the contract for a
€ 1.15 billion (US$ 1.52 billion) , 4.2
km undersea road tunnel in Hong
Kong. Meanwhile its Americaribe
subsidiary in joint venture with John
Moriarty & Associates won a € 400
million (US$ 520 million) contract
for a mixed-use project in Miami.
VALUE OF 1:
SYMBOL AU$
BRL
UK£ CNY
INR
YEN MXN RUR SAR
ZAR KRW CHF
US$
Australian Dollar
AU$
0.48 0.583 5.72 0.693 57.9
92
12.15 30.1
3.50
9.31
1007 0.850 0.935
Brazilian Real
BRL
2.08
0.281 2.75 0.333 27.9
44.5
5.85
14.5
1.69
4.48
485 0.409 0.450
British Pound
UK£
1.71
3.56
9.8
1.19
99.4
159
20.8
51.6
6.01
16.0
1728 1.46
1.60
Chinese Yuan
CNY
0.175 0.363 0.102
0.121 10.13 16.2
2.12
5.26 0.613 1.627
176 0.149 0.163
Euro
€
1.44
3.00
0.84
8.26
83.7
134
17.5
43.5
5.06 13.44 1455 1.23
1.35
Indian Rupee
INR
0.017 0.036 0.010 0.099 0.012
1.6
0.210 0.519 0.0605 0.161 17.4 0.0147 0.0161
Japanese Yen
YEN
0.011 0.022 0.006 0.062 0.007 0.627
0.1314 0.325 0.0379 0.1006 10.9 0.0092 0.0101
Mexican Peso
MXN
0.082 0.171 0.048 0.471 0.057 4.77
7.61
2.48 0.288 0.766
83
0.070 0.0769
Russian Ruble
RUR
0.033 0.069 0.019 0.190 0.023 1.93
3.07 0.404
0.116 0.309 33.5 0.0283 0.0311
Saudi Riyal
SAR
0.285 0.593 0.166 1.632 0.198 16.533 26.389 3.467 8.587
2.66
287 0.243 0.267
South African Rand ZAR
0.107 0.223 0.063 0.614 0.074 6.225 9.936 1.305 3.233 0.377
108 0.091 0.100
South Korean Won KRW
0.0010 0.0021 0.0006 0.0057 0.0007 0.0575 0.0918 0.0121 0.0299 0.0035 0.0092
0.00084 0.0009
Swiss Franc
CHF
1.18
2.44
0.69
6.73
0.81 68.13 108.75 14.29 35.38 4.12 10.95 1185
1.099
US Dollar
US$
1.07 2.223 0.624 6.12 0.741
62
99.0
13
32.2
3.75
9.96
1078 0.91
For example US$ 1 = AU$ 1.07
Exchange rates: September 2013
US
Tanfield plans to sell 51% of loss-
making powered access equipment
manufacturer Snorkel to Las Vegas
based telehandler maker Xtreme
Manufacturing. Subject to Snorkel
making five-year profit targets,
Tanfield will be paid US$ 50 million.
Tanfield’s 49% share would then fall
to 30% and it would have the option
to sell at a 5.5 EBITDA multiple.
INDIA
Indian cement producer
Jaiprakash Associates has agreed
to sell a 4.8 million tonnes a year
capacity unit in Gujarat to UltraTech
Cement for INR 3,800 crore (US$ 600
million). UltraTech is India’s largest
cement producer by capacity, and the
deal will see its annual capacity rise
to 59 million tonnes.
ITALY
The merger of Italian
contractors Impregilo and Salini has
been approved by both companies’
shareholders. Impregilo will change
its company name to Salini Impregilo,
and will take over all of Salini’s
previous commercial relationships.
UK
Amec has withdrawn its offer
to acquire fellow UK-headquartered
international engineering company
Kentz. It had tentatively offered to pay
UK£ 5.65 – 5.80 (US$ 8.85 – 9.09)
for the company, valuing it at up to
UK£ 690 million (US$ 1.08 billion).
The Kentz board rejected the offer,
saying it undervalued the company. It
had previously rejected a lower offer
from Germany’s M&W on the same
grounds.
international
construction
october 2013
BUSINESS NEWS
10
HONDURAS
Lafarge sells cement operations
Lafarge is to sell its cement
operations in Honduras to
Cementos Argos. The deal is worth
€ 435 million (US$ 580 million)
and Lafarge will receive € 232
million (US$ 360 million) for its
53.3% stake in the company.
The assets being sold comprise
a 1 million tonne per year cement
plant and a 300,000 tonnes per year
grinding facility. The deal is subject
to regulatory approval.
This is not the first time Lafarge
has divested assets to Cementos
Argos. In May 2011 it sold a series
of cement plants in the south-east
US to the Colombian company for
US$ 750 million. Cementos Argos
is thought to be the fifth largest
cement producer in Latin America.
