US engineering giant Jacobs is set to buy UK consultancy group Babtie.
Jacobs has announced to the US stock exchange that it is in acquisition talks with the Glasgow-based engineering group Babtie.

Explaining the move, Jacobs chief executive officer Noel Watson said that the purchase of Babtie would allow Jacobs to expand globally. “Our view is that Babtie, coupled with a similarly scaled operaion in the US will provide the foundation to achieve our goal of global leadership, and I would expect to see the Babtie team being a key part of our leadership globally in building this business.”

Babtie has 50 offices around the world and has a workforce of 3,500. Babtie announced a turnover of £189m last year and increased pre-tax profits of £7.8, up by 51%. It is heavily involved in private/public infrastructure in the UK

Jacobs has 35,000 employees and last year reported earnings of £69m on a turnover of £2.5bn. It provides engineering services in areas as diverse as flood defence, nuclear decommissioning and rail safety.