RE: Thorsday9 Apr 2026 08:28
Van Elle has agreed to a GBP58.8 million buyout from construction company Strabag. Strabag will pay 52.3 pence in cash for each share in the ground engineering contractor, a 59% premium to its 33.0p closing price on Wednesday. "The strong strategic fit identified between Strabag UK and Van Elle is expected to drive growth following the transaction, incremental to the respective growth prospects of the current businesses. Complementary client relationships and end markets, particularly in the residential, water, energy and transport sectors, create attractive cross-selling opportunities, broaden the combined civil engineering offering around ground engineering works, and generate revenue synergies," Van Elle says. "The Van Elle board considers that, notwithstanding their belief that the Van Elle Group has significant medium term opportunities, and the strategic progress made over the last five years, the potential for a sustained and material improvement in the valuation of the Van Elle shares is likely to be limited in the near term. Furthermore, the share price of the Van Elle shares is unlikely to reflect fundamental value of the Van Elle group given the illiquid trading in the Van Elle shares and investor sentiment towards smaller UK-quoted companies remaining subdued."