AMERICAN UTILITY firm Western Power Distribution has sold British consultant engineer Hyder to a management buyout team for £20m.
The deal is the first sale of the non-core parts of the Welsh infrastructure group, which was bought by WPD last year.
The other two non-core arms, Hyder Infrastructure Management and Hyder Investments, are thought to be for sale. Laing and Carillion are understood to be interested in Hyder's stakes in PFI, transport and infrastructure.
A provider of consultancy services to the water, telecoms and transport industries, Hyder Consulting has 2500 staff and a turnover of £136.4m in the year ended 31 March 2000 .
The business will now continue as an independent operation and focus on client-based growth strategies. Managing director Tim Wade said: "We work in rapidly changing and demanding markets. We believe the time could not be better for us to emerge again as an independent consulting engineer."
