NRW Holdings has denied media speculation that it has been in advanced talks to acquire BGC Contracting.
NRW’s acquisition of BGC Contracting was previously estimated to be worth up to $600 million by The Australian, which was also denied by NRW.
However, it did not deny the possibility it was taking over the giant contractor.
“The company is not currently pursuing any acquisitions to the value speculated in the media or that are otherwise sufficiently advanced to warrant disclosure at this time,” NRW said.
“In response to these reports, and consistent with statements made in the company’s half year reporting in February 2019, NRW continues to pursue opportunities to further diversity its revenues.
“This may include investment in new businesses or acquisitions where considered appropriate, as demonstrated by NRW’s acquisition of Golding in 2017 and more recently the RCR Mining Technology and Heat Treatment business units.”
Group company BGC has been exploring options for BGC Contracting, including a possible sale and divestment of parts of the business, since February this year.
BGC Contracting has a forward order book of around $2 billion, a year-on-year revenue of around $1 billion and around 2000 employees nationwide.
Its contract pipeline includes bulk earthworks at Fortescue Metals Group’s Eliwana project in the Pilbara (valued at $24 million) and an infrastructure and mining services contract at Northern Star Resources’ Ramone development ($30 million), also in Western Australia.
NRW is reaping financial rewards from its acquisitions, including a $18 million equipment package from Rio Tinto at the Koodaideri project in Western Australia announced eariler this week via subsidiary RCR Mining Technologies.
NRW purchased RCR Mining Technologies along with sister company RCR Heat Treatment for a combined sum of $10 million together as part of contractor RCR Tomlinson’s ongoing administration.