Nordic Business Report-December 8, 2006-Skanska acquires UK company McNicholas Plc in GBP50m deal (C)1994-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com Swedish construction company Skanska announced on Friday (8 December) that it has agreed to acquire the UK construction and infrastructure servicing group McNicholas Plc. The debt-free purchase price is approximately GBP50m. McNicholas, based in London, UK, is mainly active in London and southeastern England. The company has 1,300 employees and reported revenues of GBP150m in 2005. The acquired operations will be integrated into Skanska UKs utilities operating unit and consolidated from December. "This is a strategic step to strengthen our presence in the UK. We believe that we will have great future opportunities to expand our business in the UK market in general and also specifically in the utilities sector, in which we already have a business with revenue of approximately GBP110m," said Stuart Graham, President and CEO of Skanska. "Combined, we will be a leading player with strengthened possibilities to further expand within the growing market for utilities," Graham added. Skanska, headquartered in Solna, Sweden, is one of the worlds leading construction groups with some 54,000 employees in Europe, the US and Latin America. Skanska is listed on the Nordic Exchange in Stockholm. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected]))