Balfour Beatty has sold off its Scandinavian rail business to Strukton Rail for an estimated £4 million.
Strukton Rail’s parent company Oranjewoud N.V. has said the acquisition will strengthen Strukton’s presence in Sweden and Denmark and allow it to better serve infrastructure managers Trafikverket and Banedanmark.
Balfour Beatty, which had announced plans to restructure its European rail businesses in November last year, said the £4 million figure equated “broadly” to the operation’s net asset value.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in January 2014, having already received clearance from Sweden’s competition authority. No approval is needed from the Danish authorities due to the ‘limited size of the transaction’ in Denmark.[pullquote align=”right”]We have found a good home for the business, its customers and employees, and we continue to explore similar options for our remaining mainland European businesses.[/pullquote]
Andrew McNaughton, chief executive of Balfour Beatty, said: “I am very pleased that we have continued to execute on our stated strategy of disposing of our mainland European rail businesses.
“We have found a good home for the business, its customers and employees, and we continue to explore similar options for our remaining mainland European businesses.”
The new business, which will take over the installation of ETCS signalling infrastructure in Denmark from Balfour Beatty, will operate under the name Strukton Rail.
Robert Röder, Strukton Rail’s managing director in Scandinavia, said: “We share knowledge and expertise, but we also complement each other within some technique areas. Under a common flag we will be able to offer our customers a strong and broad range of services and products, with the aim to be one of the foremost suppliers in the rail sector in Sweden and Denmark.”
Other major projects being delivered by Strukton Rail in Sweden and Denmark include the Citybanan in Stockholm and the Cityringen in Copenhagen.
As Balfour Beatty is disposing of it’s mainland European businesses and, no doubt, will not be bidding for any future work in Europe, hopefully Struckton Rail and the other purchasers will agree not to bid for UK contracts.