Willmott Dixon had operated separate housing and regeneration businesses, but the two have been combined to form a single division, known as Willmott Residential. Former Berkeley Group director Nick Simpkin will join as the division’s chief executive, with Willmott Regen divisional chief executive Andrew Telfer becoming deputy CEO. The merger marks the next phase of Willmott Dixon’s strategy to grow its residential development and housebuilding capabilities. The regeneration arm includes private rented sector specialist Be:here and Prime Place, which develops homes for sale. It will combine the two brands with newly branded contract housing arm Willmott Partnership Homes. Willmott Dixon group CEO Ric Willmott said: “The launch of Willmott Residential provides clear differentiation in the way we now present and manage the group and underlines how serious we are in growing our residential presence.” Willmott Residential is developing homes for sale through Prime Place and private rent through Be:here, with 5,000 units on site or in planning. The company has a long-term goal of attracting additional capital to grow the division further. The move comes as the contractor hunts for a buyer for its support services division, which includes Willmott Dixon Partnerships and Energy Services. Source link

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has made a cash offer for all of FCC of Spain, in a bid that values the construction group at €7.6 a share. The offer was made through Mr Slim´s investment vehicle Carso, and was disclosed in a statement to Spain´s stock market regulator late on Friday, reports Tobias Buck in Madrid. Under Spanish law, a bidder must make an offer for the whole company when his stake rises above 30 per cent. According to the regulatory statement, Carso, which first entered into FCC´s share capital in 2014, has now raised its holding from 29.6 per cent to 36.6 per cent – triggering the takeover offer. Source link