Balfour Beatty buys Dean and Dyball

Balfour Beatty has bought Hampshire contractor Dean and Dyball for £45m.

None of the weeklies carried this story because the news broke after they had gone to press, but Building's lead story said that Dean and Dyball was up for sale and that Galliford Try and Dutch firm Heijmans were potential buyers. Building did not mention Balfour Beatty.

Balfour's purchase of the £262m-turnover firm follows its acquisition of Cowlin for £52 million last summer, following on from Birse and Mansell. The move signals further consolidation of the market as national firms look to increase their regional prescence by acquisition. Building flags up Thomas Vale as another company potentially up for grabs although Thomas Vale has denied it.

The timing of the deal is thought to be linked to the change in Capital Gains Tax rules which comes into play on 6 April, according to Building. From then partnerships and individuals must pay a flat rate of 18% if they sell up after that date, compared with a previous maximum rate of 10%.

Dean and Dyball employs 1,200 people in 11 offices and last year made a pre-tax profit of £4.4m