The firm has sold a 12.5% share in Connect Plus to funds managed by Dalmore Capital for £103m. The figure is in excess of the Balfour directors' valuation of the stake as at 30 June 2017.
Highways England has approved the sale.
In addition, Balfour has entered into a series of arrangements with funds managed by Equitix Investment Management and Dalmore, under which up to an additional 12.5% interest in Connect Plus may be sold by Balfour at “an equivalent price”. These arrangements lapse on 13 May 2018 and are subject to a number of conditions, the company said.
“This transaction emphasises the ongoing attractiveness of our infrastructure assets and is in line with our declared intent to maximise value for shareholders,” said group chief executive Leo Quinn.
As a result of the sale, Balfour said that pre-tax profits and year-end net cash is now expected to be higher than in its trading update earlier this month.
Balfour sells M25 stake
Contractor Balfour Beatty has sold part of its stake in the M25 PFI project company.
