Germany's Bilfinger confirmed it had agreed to sell its real-estate services unit to EQT at a valuation of €1.4bn and said it would reinvest much of the proceeds to expand its main remaining unit.
The struggling engineering services firm said on Thursday it expected a gain of about €500m from the sale, lifting its shares by more than 5%.
"The decision is the result of an intensive review of several purchase bids for the segment," Bilfinger said. "Building and Facility gets a growth-oriented investor with proven expertise in the services sector."
Bilfinger also said it would keep for the time being its power-plant unit, which it had put up for sale almost a year ago, and would instead pursue the sale of parts of the business, some of which would be restructured.
Bilfinger had been reviewing offers for its most profitable unit, Building and Facility, after receiving what it said were unsolicited offers for the business in January.
The sale will leave Bilfinger, which is 26% owned by activist investor Cevian, with industrial plant maintenance as its core business. That unit has been afflicted by the low oil price, which hurts petrochemicals customers.
The company is waiting for its new chief executive, Thomas Blades, to take up his position by the the third quarter of the year. It is being run by finance chief Alex Salzmann following the unexpected departure of CEO Per Utnegaard.
Source: Reuters
