Rok has continued its expansion drive with the £19m acquisition of Midlands contractor SOL Construction.

ROK will initially pay £19m for Barkbury Holdings, SOL’s parent company. This could rise to £21m depending on SOL’s financial performance in the year ended 31 March 2008.

SOL Homes, the company’s housebuilding division, is not part of the deal but will continue to trade under the same name.

Rok said in a trading update that it was performing in line with expectations. It has improved its cash position in the first quarter, with average net debt of £14.7m compared with £26.6m in the second half of 2006.

This week, it also announced a five-for-one share split, which will make shares more easily tradable. The split will not affect the value of the company.

SOL is expected to report a pre-tax profit of £2.7m for the year ended 31 March 2007. Pre-tax profit for the company, excluding SOL Homes, was £2.8m for the year ended 31 March 2006 and net assets on completion of the sale will be £7m. It has 413 staff and offices in Nottingham and Warwick.