Balfour Beatty has pledged to continue its pursuit of Mowlem, despite it looking increasingly likely that Carillion will get in first.

A spokesperson for Balfour said the contractor had not yet conceded defeat.

The spokesperson said: 鈥淲e are still considering what we鈥檙e going to do. There will be a point where we鈥檒l have to put up or shut up. At the moment we鈥檙e evaluating what we鈥檝e found in due diligence.鈥�

It is understood that shareholders owning 29% of Mowlem鈥檚 shares have given undertakings to sell their shares to Carillion. Balfour has been in talks with Mowlem since Carillion approached it in November. It is thought to be putting together a cash deal worth between 218p and 222p a share.

A bid at the top of that range would value Mowlem at 拢315m, a 9% premium on Carillion鈥檚 original offer, currently worth about 205p a share.