£200m windfall for Balfour Beatty investors

Balfour Beatty shareholders are in line to receive up to £200 million after the infrastructure group agreed the sale of its US engineering and design consultancy, Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Parsons Brinckerhoff was a stumbling block that led to the collapse of talks between Balfour and Carillion

The division is being sold to WSP Global, the Canadian engineer, and the deal – which is expected to be completed by the end of the year – requires approval from Balfour shareholders.

Parsons Brinckerhoff was one of the key stumbling blocks that led to the collapse of merger talks between Balfour and construction group Carillion last month. Carillion wanted the business to be retained within the enlarged group, but Balfour was keen to press ahead with a sale.

Balfour said it would return up to £200m to shareholders following the deal, while about 85m will be used to reduce its pension scheme deficit.