Move comes just days after Laing O'Rourke makes offer for Carillion's M&E arm Crown House Engineering
Ray O'Rourke is considering a bid for Chinese cladding firm Yuanda after this week putting in an offer for Crown House engineering, the M&E arm of Carillion.

This purchase would enable Laing O'Rourke to provide a full package on its 拢3.6bn Heathrow Terminal 5 scheme, as Crown House is M&E contractor on the scheme. Carillion has confirmed that Laing O'Rourke has put in a bid.

O'Rourke is understood to have flown to the Far East to look at the possibility of buying Yuanda and is now mulling it over.

A source close to O'Rourke said that he wanted to buy a cladding firm as Laing O'Rourke has interests in plant, precast concrete, joinery, stonework and steel frames.

The source said: "All that O'Rourke needs is a cladding firm now to complete his set. He has flown out to China to look at Yuanda and is considering a bid. The only issue is that I don't think O'Rourke realised how large the company is and the price might be too high."

The source said that O'Rourke would also take a look at other cladding firms. Laing O'Rourke already has ties with Yuanda as it put in a joint contract bid for the Paddington Basin development in London, according to market sources.

All that Ray O鈥橰ourke needs now is a cladding firm to complete his set

Source close to O鈥橰ourke

Analysts speculated that if Carillon accepted O'Rourke's Crown House bid, it could be because it wanted to strengthen the firm's position as a services company.

Carillion said in its last financial results: "Crown House, our mechanical and electrical engineering business, made good progress in 2003. It achieved an overall break-even performance on substantially reduced turnover and it exited the year trading profitably with a very strong order book."

Last year O'Rourke bought Carillon's piling subsidiary Expanded for 拢6.3m.

Laing O'Rourke confirmed the bid in a statement: "We are in early negotiations with Carillion for the potential acquisition of Crown House Engineering, its mechanical, electrical and communications solutions business. If successful, the proposed acquisition will mark a further step in Laing O'Rourke's policy of offering total capability in the delivery of major projects."

Laing O'Rourke declined to comment on Yuanda.

  • Nigel Jones, former managing director of Carillion's private finance arm, has left the firm to join a PFI funder. He has been replaced by Robin Hertzberg.