Contractor has said that it won’t make an offer for Mouchel

Costain has announced that it has “no intention to make an offer for Mouchel” after the consultant rebuffed a total of four offers from the contractor.

The last of its offers was priced at 155p a share, mainly in the form of Costain shares.

In a statement on 29 March, to accompany its six-month results, Mouchel shunned Costain’s most recent offer, along with a 135p per share rival offer by Interserve in cash and shares.

Following Mouchel’s response Costain embarked on a one-week period of due diligence to reconfirm its revised proposal.

However, regulations mean that the contractor could still make another offer for Mouchel on a number of grounds, including if material circumstances change.

Analysts have said Costain is likely to look for bolt-ons of smaller, private consultancies.

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