Mouchel offloads pipeline design arm
The group, which has seen its share price tumble by 90 per cent in six months, is selling the business to engineering group Mott MacDonald for an initial £2.55 million. It follows last week’s disposal of its rail arm to Australian firm Sinclair Knight Merz for £3.4m and a further £2.5m in working capital.
Mouchel has seen two chairmen and a chief executive leave following another profits warning and said the proceeds would help reduce its £87m debt pile. The company is in talks with its banks as it was likely to breach the covenants on its borrowings. New chief executive Grant Rumbles, who took over less than two weeks ago, described the pipeline deal as “another key step in our strategy to focus on Mouchel’s leading positions in core markets”.