RMC's share price strengthened 1.6% to 655p over the week, after news that its £46.5m bid had been accepted. This distinct lack of interest could be down to the Square Mile's lukewarm attitude to the deal – some analysts opine that RMC should be slimming down, not gaining in size. Or it could just be that everybody even mildly interested in RMC took their Easter holidays early.
Alexander Russell's share price rose nearly 5% to 205p – just 1p off RMC's bid price.
News was better for contractors: Amec's share price rose 10%, Balfour Beatty's was up 9% and Montpellier, the group formerly known as YJL, saw its shares rise 16%. All these rises took place as a result of light trading because of the Easter holidays.
Meanwhile, the Building 50 index dropped 16 points, mirroring falls on the FTSE 100. Housebuilders were even harder hit, with the top 15 companies falling 65 points.
Housebuilder Berkeley fell 3% to 735p while Barratt improved to 341.5p. Taylor Woodrow dropped 8.5p to 187.5p over the week.
