Listed groundworks giant buys firm for 拢31m
Listed groundworks giant Keller has bought a South African specialist contractor, Esorfranki Geotechnical, for 拢31m.
Esorfranki Geotechnical is the largest ground engineering business in South Africa and was previously a division of Johannesburg-listed contractor Esofranki Limited.
The acquired firm turned over 拢49m and made an underlying operating profit of 拢3.3m in the latest financial year to 28 February 2013.
Keller said the buy would 鈥渁ccelerate鈥� the firm鈥檚 entry into sub-Saharan construction markets, where it expects 鈥渟ignificant growth over the medium to long term鈥�.
Completion is expected by the end of November and is subject to approval by shareholders of Esorfranki Limited at its general meeting on 18 November and the approval of the South African Reserve Bank.
Justin Atkinson, chief executive of Keller, said: 鈥淭his important acquisition marks another milestone in our strategy of extending our global leadership by expansion into new, higher growth regions.
鈥淭he combination of Esorfranki Geotechnical鈥檚 local knowledge and resources with Keller鈥檚 scale, experience and broad range of techniques will make us ideally placed to undertake complex major projects requiring design expertise and multi-product solutions in a region where we expect the longer-term opportunities to be significant.鈥�
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