Southern Water’s maintenance partner Mouchel has managed to stave off a takeover bid from rival infrastructure group VT Group.
Mouchel is joint owner of Holleran Mouchel, based in Falmer. Its Brighton-based staff undertake all the “reactive and planned maintenance work to the existing sewerage network for Southern Water”, according to the utility company.
VT made a £330 million bid for Mouchel but Mouchel refused to enter into talks with VT.
VT then ended up being a takeover target itself with Babcock, the defence and engineering business, making an opening offer of £1.2 billion last month.
Mouchel is safe from VT’s advances for at least six months, with all the uncertainty such a move would have created for staff at Falmer and elsewhere in Sussex.
Mouchel was seen as vulnerable to a takeover because it was more than £100 million in debt at the end of July last year.
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