Acquisition

Morgan Sindall PLC 11 May 2001 MORGAN SINDALL PLC ('Morgan Sindall' or 'the Company') Acquisition of Miller Civil Engineering Services Limited ('MCES') from Miller Group Limited for a consideration of £20.0 million cash Morgan Sindall plc, the construction brands Group, today announces the acquisition of MCES, a leading UK Infrastructure Services Company. Introduction The Board of Morgan Sindall plc today announces that the Company has acquired MCES from Miller Group Limited for a consideration of £20.0 million in cash. The acquisition of MCES will form a new division of Morgan Sindall and meets the acquisition criteria adhered to by the Company, particularly that MCES is a leading operator in all its fields of business, has strong management and is very well established across a number of sectors. Information on MCES MCES has three distinct businesses: Miller Water, Miller Tunnelling and Miller Civils all of which have an excellent reputation and track record in their respective areas. MCES has also been a pioneer in the development of partnering arrangements and strategic alliances, developing excellent key client relationships. MCES has a number of excellent established joint venture partnerships, notably with Vinci of France, the largest construction company in the world. It is solely a United Kingdom operator and has been particularly successful in winning framework agreements with key utility clients, not necessarily on price but on quality, deliverability and culture. MCES employs approximately 650 people and the key management have worked with each other for more than six years. Miller Water Miller Water is a key outsourcing partner to major UK utility companies and offers a total service from design through construction to operation. It is focussed on both capital and ongoing maintenance projects. Its clients include Anglian Water, Thames Water, Southern Water, Seven Trent Water, South West Water, West of Scotland Water and Yorkshire Water. Miller Tunnelling Miller Tunnelling is the premier tunnelling contractor in the UK. It has both the technical and design expertise in house and is involved in all significant current infrastructure projects in the UK including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and work for BAA at Heathrow. Miller Civils Miller Civils operates in the road, rail and air sectors. It is a key contractor to the Highways Agency, a partnering contractor with London Underground and a preferred contractor of Railtrack. It has recently secured several significant contracts, including the £17.0 million A27 Polegate contract under the Highways Agency's new partnering regime. MCES Summary Financial Performance Year 2000 was the first year in which MCES operated as a separate entity within the Miller Group. Turnover for the full year was £ 135m and PBIT was £ 3.755m. MCES has an order book over the next one to five years of £430 million which reflects its framework agreements and its close relationships with its clients. Net Assets acquired include approximately £6m of cash balances and include a goodwill element anticipated to be £ 15m. Prospects MCES should benefit from the expenditure forecast to be made in its main markets such as £15.6 billion by water companies over the next five years and £180 billion on total transport infrastructure over the next 10 years. The acquisition will be earnings enhancing in its first year. 11 May 2001 ENQUIRIES: Morgan Sindall plc Tel: 020 7307 9200 John Morgan, Executive Chairman College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020 Matthew Smallwood
UK 100

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