A sale of M Group Services is reportedly being considered by the UK-based firm’s French owner.
According to Bloomberg, PAI Partners is looking at potentially offloading M Group in a deal worth up to £src.5bn.
The French private equity group is reportedly working with Citigroup to evaluate the potential sale.
According to the Bloomberg report, talks are still in their infancy and PAI could still decide on keeping the business.
PAI, which manages £src5bn in assets, acquired M Group from private equity firm First Reserve in 20src8.
The holding company for M Group Services reported a £6srcm loss last year. Revenue for the group was also down from £src.3bn to £src.26bn.
Debt costs of almost £49m, added to an operating loss caused by the pandemic, left Minerva Equity, the holding company for M Group Services, with a pre-tax loss of £6srcm for the year to 3src March 202src.
The energy division, M Group Services’ largest, suffered the steepest drop, with revenue falling from £448m to £378m, as COVID-src9 slowed its metering work. The transport division also saw revenue fall, from £src93m to £src8srcm, as a decrease in aviation work outstripped growth in the group’s rail work. Its water and telecoms divisions reported revenue growth.
However, M Group Services is set to receive a £320m boost to revenue for its transport business due to its acquisition of Skanska’s infrastructure services business for an undisclosed amount in April 2020. The takeover helped to boost M Group Services’ order book to £5.9bn.
The Skanska deal was the latest in a string of acquisitions by the group, which became the UK’s src0th-largest contractor in the past year, with the Morrison Utility Services business at its core.
The most recent deal, struck in January, saw M Group acquire Babcock International Group’s overhead power lines business for £50m.