Morrisons owner CD&R planning £2.5bn purchase of facilities management giants
Morrisons owner Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) is reported to be in talks to buy significant stakes in Atalian Servest and OCS, which between them employ close to 200,000 people around the world.
City sources said the deals could together be valued at approximately £2.5bn, the bulk of which would be accounted for by Atalian Servest, Sky News reported.
Combining the two companies would create a global powerhouse in facilities management, an industry in which scale is critical to profitability.
One insider said that the takeovers were not certain to happen, but that CD&R was in detailed talks with both target companies, and that it was conceivable that it could reach an agreement with one or both within weeks.
Banks are said to have been approached about providing finance for the deals.
The private equity group has become one of the most prominent investors in British companies in recent years, and is now in the process of exploring a sale of Motor Fuel Group, the UK’s biggest independent petrol retailer.
It won a bidding war for Morrisons against Fortress Investment Group, and has previously owned well-known British businesses such as B&M, the discount retailer.
