Page 2 - Murray Robert News Today

Turns out things have moved faster at RUC Cementation Mining Contractors than Street Talk anticipated.

Sources said RUC was shopped around with a $100 million odd price tag, and Murray & Roberts’ filings showed it would struggle to fund a deal to buy it alone.

Proceeds from the sale will go towards slashing its debt.

South African contractor Murray & Roberts’ Australian retreat is gathering steam, with the group seeking offers for its Perth-based underground mining services group RUC Cementation Mining Contractors. 

Downer EDI boss Grant Fenn could not have had a worse possible exit from the ASX-listed contracting business he has run for the past 12 years.

The services group’s shares tumbled 24 per cent after it said profits had been overstated by up to $40 million. It also slashed its full-year earnings guidance, blaming weather disruption and supply chain costs.

The costs of building the $6 billion Snowy 2.0 hydropower project are expected to soar further after contractor Clough collapsed, with its administrators scrambling to raise money to continue energy and infrastructure projects around Australia. 

Webuild will not proceed with a proposed acquisition of engineering group Clough, forcing the Perth-based contractor building Snowy 2.0 into administration.

The proposed sale of Clough to Webuild, which was struck in early November, will put the Italians in charge of building the $6 billion hydropower project Snowy 2.0.

The construction giant says its working capital requirements are ‘especially acute’.