So French conglomerate Vinci has finally got tired of restructuring its UK m&e contracting division Rosser and Russell and offloaded it to fellow giant Emcor.
Emcor is a better fit for Rosser & Russell and the purchase emphasises Emcor’s strategy to grow its engineering services business in the UK.
That’s not to say that Vinci has turned its back on the m&e sector. Its Vinci Energies division has been busy buying up services companies in the UK. This month’s acquisition of MESL (pages 7 and 21) sees it join the ranks of Lee Beesley and the former Ford Group of Nottingham in a growing UK business. It remains to be seen where Vinci puts the maintenance division of Rosser & Russell that it retained in the sale to Emcor.
Readers may recall an interview with Dutch group Imtech (September 2005) following its purchase of Goodmarriott & Hursthouse. It aimed to be a top three m&e contractor by 2010 and that latest buy-out had added to the purchase of Meica a couple of years earlier.
Neither of these groups has been as active as in the marketplace as you might imagine from their bullish statements in interview. But rather than any lack of vision, this is more to do with a paucity of likely businesses to buy. Sure, there are thousands of m&e contractors out there, but how many are worth having?
Many m&e services firms are what’s known as lifestyle companies. You can have the car, the health insurance, the golf competitions and the overseas conferences but, with profitability poor, is your business actually worth anything if you choose to sell? The lack of interest from the likes of Imtech would suggest not.
Source
Electrical and Mechanical Contractor
