Canada's WSP to buy Sweett Group for £24m

25th May 2016 13:36

(ShareCast News) - AIM-listed Sweett Group, which provides professional services for the construction and management of building and infrastructure projects, has agreed to be bought by Canada's WSP Global Inc for around £24m.The offer represents a premium of approximately 52.2% to Sweett's closing price of 23p on Tuesday, which was the last business day prior to the announcement. It also represents a 73.6% premium to the six-month average price per share of 20p.WSP said Sweett was an attractive acquisition as it provides an opportunity to grow its range of advisory skills and adds further scale and management strength in the UK and Europe.In addition, it said Sweett has a complementary client base to which to cross sell services and provides a very solid foundation from which WSP can achieve growth of a strong programme, project and cost management capability.WSP's chief financial officer Alexandre L'Heureux said: "This transaction fulfils our strategic ambitions of enhancing our project and cost management services and positions our combined group as a leading global consultancy."WSP and Sweett operate a similar business model of global knowhow, local delivery and are highly compatible in terms of strategic objectives, being both pure play consulting firms."Sweet chairman John Dodds said the deal "supports the realisation of both companies' strategic aims and provides a strong global platform for growth"."It provides Sweett shareholders with cash at an offer price that recognises Sweett's underlying value, whilst enabling the Sweett business to accelerate its growth potential with the support of WSP's financial strength."At 1440 BST, Sweett shares were up 49% to 34.25p.