Italian contractor Webuild today said the deal to acquire Australian engineering and construction company Clough Group, announced a month ago, has been abandoned.
Webuild said: “the parties have jointly determined and agreed that there is no reasonable prospect of that acquisition proceeding through to a successful completion”.
It did not reveal the specifics of why the conditional agreement announced 8 November had broken down.
Then, the agreement with Clough Group parent Murray & Roberts Holdings saw Webuild acquiring the entire share capital of Clough.
Webuild had wanted to turn Clough into its Australian arm following a financial reorganisation.
There is no reasonable prospect of that acquisition proceeding through to a successful completion
Webuild
As of 30 June, Clough had workforce of 2,500, an order backlog of €2.1bn and revenue of €1bn. It has also been named preferred bidder on projects with a total value of €2.7bn.
Webuild saw the acquisition as a way to enter the markets of Western Australia and Queensland, and to build its presence in New South Wales and Victoria.
The company said it would “continue to look for opportunities for growth, including in the Australian market”.
Earlier this month, Webuild said some 90% of its new orders this year came from outside Italy, mostly in low-risk markets like Australia (34%), Europe (28%) and North America (14%).
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