Arcadis to complete Hyder takeover 'next month'

Arcadis expects to complete its purchase of UK engineer Hyder on 16 October - providing there is no last minute counter bid from its Japanese rival Nippon Koei.

Arcadis looks to have won out in its bidding war with Nippon Koei to acquire Hyder, after offering £7.30 per Hyder share last month, valuing the firm at £288m. This offer represents a 7.4% premium over Nippon Koei’s deal earlier in the month to acquire Hyder for £268m, and is 13% above Arcadis’ original £256m bid.

Hyder has published a timetable for closing the deal with Arcadis this morning, which proposes a general meeting for shareholders to vote on the proposed Arcadis takeover on 25 September, with a High Court hearing to legally approve the deal to follow on the same day.

If the deal is approved as planned, Hyder shares will suspend trading on the London stock exchange on 15 October, prior to the deal closing the following day.

But Nippon Koei has still not ruled out a further counter-bid for Hyder.

Hyder’s shares have traded above Arcadis’ £7.30 offer price ever since the improved deal was announced - indicating the market is pricing in a potential counter-bid from Nippon Koei - and climbed a further 4p in early trading this morning to £7.41.

Nippon Koei issued a statement last month saying it noted Arcadis’ improved offer and “is considering its position and will make a further announcement in due course”.

Hyder is working on London’s Crossrail project (pictured).