Balfour Beatty buys Dean & Dyball for £45m

It said the purchase of the company, which carries out civil and engineering work and also has a property development arm, would help it provide a ‘strong profitable presence in civil engineering markets in the southern half of England and in Wales’. It added that Dean & Dyball was also an ‘excellent fit’ in terms of geography and company culture.

Dean there done that

Dean & Dyball, which has around 700 staff, was founded in 1969 and initially focused on water utilities, marine and coastal sectors. In the 1970s this was extended to include commercial and industrial building. Its property development business has three ongoing projects, the largest of which is a combined Magistrates', County and Crown law court development in Salisbury, Wiltshire that is forward funded.

In the year to 30 September 2007, Dean & Dyball had a turnover of £262m and profit before interest and tax of £4.5m.

Building on existing capacity

Balfour Beatty chief executive Ian Tyler, said: ‘The acquisition of Dean & Dyball is the latest stage in our strategy of building leading positions in regional UK civil engineering and building markets following the successful acquisition and integration of Mansell, Birse and Cowlin. This transaction establishes a strong civil engineering base in an area where we currently have only a limited presence and adds further capability in the building sector.'