Kier Group offloads Mouchel Consulting for £75m

Property, residential, construction and services company Kier Group announced on Wednesday that it has completed the disposal of Mouchel Consulting to WSP Global for a total consideration of £75m, satisfied in cash.

The FTSE 250 firm said Mouchel Consulting, acquired in June 2015 as part of Kier's acquisition of Mouchel, provides engineering, environmental and asset management consultancy services, principally to infrastructure markets.

On 4 July, Kier announced it was evaluating its options for the Mouchel Consulting business including a possible disposal.

Kier said the disposal is expected to result in an immediate profit of approximately £40m, subject to post-completion adjustments.

The net disposal proceeds will be retained by the company for future investment purposes and to further reduce debt, supporting Kier's ‘Vision 2020’ target of net debt to EBITDA ratio of less than 1x which was achieved ahead of schedule in 2016.

For the financial year ended 30 June, Mouchel Consulting reported revenue of £125m, generating an operating profit contribution of £8m and a profit before tax of £5m.

The gross assets of the company were £29m at 30 June.

“Having completed the integration of Mouchel, we are well progressed with the simplification of our portfolio of businesses,” said Kier chief executive Haydn Mursell.

“The disposal of Mouchel Consulting continues this process and provides increased capital to focus on the opportunities across our core businesses which will underpin the group's future growth.”