Sweett jilts WSP for rival offer

Sweett has turned its back on a takeover deal with WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff in favour of a higher £29m offer from Middle East-owned Currie & Brown.

In a statement late on Friday Sweett’s board said it was now recommending the £29m bid from Currie & Brown, which trumps WSP PB’s £24m bid from late May.

Currie & Brown had already acquired Sweett’s struggling Asia Pacific businesses in a deal agreed late last year and concluded earlier this month.

Sweett’s chairman John Dodds said the Currie & Brown offer represented an “attractive premium” for shareholders.

Currie & Brown is also offering Sweett a £9.45m debt facility that would replace the firm’s current borrowing facilities, which expire on 8 July. Dodds warned Sweett’s bank had shown “unwillingness” to extend the facility, making Currie & Brown’s additional offer of debt funding more attractive.

Sweett’s directors will step down from Sweett’s board if Currie & Brown’s takeover bid is successful.

WSP PB responded this morning to say it was “considering its options” following the rival bid and advised Sweett shareholders to take no action. It was unclear whether WSP PB intended to up its offer at the time of publication.

The original deal between Sweett and WSP PB had been expected to complete this month.

Currie & Brown is a subsidiary of Middle East-based engineering giant the Dar Group, which also owns architect Perkins+Will.

Currie & Brown’s offer at 42 pence a share represents an 83% premium on the 23 pence closing price of Sweett’s shares on 24 May prior to WSP PB’s bid. The rival bid is also a 20% premium on the 35 pence per Sweett share from WSP PB.

Currie & Brown said it believes cost-savings can be made at Sweett, principally through the intended de-listing from the AIM stock exchange and cut-backs in property, back office and shared services. 

David Broomer, group chairman of Currie & Brown, said: “This transaction will bring together two well-respected businesses to create a leading construction advisory business and deliver a key element of Currie & Brown’s strategy - to provide a quality offering to global and local clients alike.

“The acquisition of Sweett will create a business of substantial scale in the UK, which will provide a compelling offer to clients and significant opportunities for all our people to develop.”

The offer from Currie & Brown follows its purchase of Sweett’s Asian and Indian businesses and the subsequent disagreement between the two over the price, which was only resolved after a decision from an independent arbitration earlier this month.

Sweett also posted a £19.4m loss for the year in its last set of results. The consultant lost £13.7m on the sale of its APAC and India businesses to Currie & Brown and reported £1.9m of operating losses in the Middle East, as well as a £5.1m pre-tax loss, which the firm attributed to exceptional administrative expenses.