11 foreign giants in a £2bn war for British engineer

AT LEAST 11 big name engineering firms are set to wade in to a takeover battle for WS Atkins.

The Epsom-based engineer received a £2.1bn takeover offer from SNC-Lavalin on Monday. Quebec-based SNC, the largest engineering and construction company in Canada, made an offer to buy the firm at 20.8p per share – a 35pc premium on Atkins’ Friday closing price.

Now analysts have suggested another firm could spoil SNC’s party. Analysts at Liberum said: ‘As we have said often before, the industry is consolidating.

‘The chances of a gatecrasher are quite high.

‘The last three bids in the consulting space were all competitive: Currie & Brown won Sweett against WSP in June in 2016, WSP won Parsons Brinckerhoff against Atkins in October 2014, and Arcadis won Hyder against Nippon Kpoei in August 2014.’ As Atkins is currently the 14th largest engineering consultancy firm in the world – while SNC is the 12th – larger firms could still stake their claim.

US firms Aecom and Jacobs dominate the sector, followed by China’s Power Construction Corp and Australia’s Worley Parsons. Dutch and Canadian companies make up the top 14.

Atkins is involved in the design of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station and the construction of Crossrail and HS2. Its proposed sale has sparked concerns that the British engineering industry will lose key assets as it grapples with repeated takeovers.

SNC-Lavalin has a history of snapping up British rivals, and bought London-listed engineer Kentz for £1.2bn in 2014. It has until May 1 to announce a firm intention to make an offer for Atkins.

Shares closed yesterday 1.1pc or 21p up at 1971p.