Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root is poised to sell its civil engineering consultancy arm to fellow American engineer Jacobs Babtie.

The firm, which is split into two divisions, energy and chemicals and government and infrastructure, said last month that it wanted to concentrate on engineering and rather than consultancy and was looking to sell off parts of the business that did not fit into this strategy.

A spokesperson for KBR said that the sell-offs would be in the consultancy parts of the government and infrastructure division. One hundred staff at its office in Leatherhead, Surrey, would be transferred to Jacobs Babtie.


Staff will be transferred to Babtie from KBR鈥檚 main office in Surrey
Staff will be transferred to Babtie from KBR鈥檚 main office in Surrey


The spokesperson said: 鈥淜BR鈥檚 government and infrastructure division in the UK has taken the decision to focus its business on engineering and programme management and the delivery of major projects. As a result it will be losing some of its traditional civil engineering consulting business.鈥

KBR is in advanced discussions about the transfer of about 100 staff

KBR spokesperson

He added: 鈥淜BR is in advanced discussions about the transfer of about 100 staff in the highways infrastructure and environment sectors at its Leatherhead office, to Babtie.鈥

Jacobs Babtie is a 拢230m-turnover consultant known for its environmental engineering and road-building expertise.

The sell-offs come amid speculation that Halliburton is looking to sell off KBR, which, as the engineering and construction part of Halliburton, is the largest American contractor in Iraq. However, Halliburton chief financial officer Cris Gaut said last month that no decision had been taken about the fate of KBR.

KBR at a glance

  • Revenue 鈥 $2.5bn (拢1.4bn), a 7% decrease from the same period in 2004
  • Operating income 鈥 $150m (拢90m), up from a $50m (拢30m) loss in the same period in 2004
  • KBR employs more than 60,000 people in 43 countries worldwide.(Results from third quarter 2005, announced in October)