Balfour Beatty unlikely to allow JLIF due diligence on PPP portfolio, talk of full takeover bid from JLIF
Balfour Beatty is unlikely to allow John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) to conduct due diligence on its public-private partnership (PPP) portfolio, The Daily Telegraph reported. The newspaper said JLIF is believed to be keen to access Balfour’s data, but went on to quote sources close to Balfour Beatty who said the FTSE-100 construction and services group’s board would be very unlikely to allow JLIF the opportunity to conduct due diligence with an offer deemed to be substantially too low.
Balfour Beatty yesterday, 5 December rejected JLIF’s GBP 1bn (EUR 1.27bn) offer for the PPP Portfolio. JLIF said in response that it continues to thinks that Balfour Beatty could maximize value for its shareholders by selling the portfolio and that it would continue to evaluate other options with regard to “unlocking” the portfolio, the item noted.
A report in The Times mentioned City speculation as to whether JLIF might partner with a trade bidder to make an outright takeover bid for Balfour Beatty. The newspaper also mentioned talk that JLIF might return for discussions about buying some of Balfour’s PPP assets and the construction group’s UK and US construction businesses. Balfour Beatty’s listed UK-based competitor Carillion as an obvious choice to partner with JLIF on such a bid.
Separately, Balfour Beatty admitted that an internal review led by KPMG will not meet its target date of Christmas to complete the investigation. The investigation follows a succession of profit warnings, the Times report said.
Daily Telegraph, The Times