UGL to weigh up private equity offers for its property arm DTZ
AUSTRALIAN engineering giant UGL confirmed yesterday that it was weighing up unsolicited offers for DTZ that could throw the planned demerger of the property services arm off-course.
A number of private equity firms are believed to be circling the British property name, which was acquired by UGL just over two years ago via a pre-pack administration at a knock-down price of £77.5m.
UGL announced plans last summer to split DTZ and its engineering arm into two separate businesses both listed on the Australian Securities Exchange by the end of June 2014.
In its half-year results yesterday, it said it remained committed to the demerger but will “evaluate unsolicited third party interest received in DTZ to determine whether these indicative proposals are in the best interests of shareholders.”
DTZ’s revenues increased by 18 per cent to A$1.08bn (£584.6m) in the six months to 31 December. The company operates in 52 countries but generates around half of its revenues in the US.