THE company that took over the work of several Bournemouth council departments has become a takeover target.
Business service company Mouchel is being eyed by the construction firm Kier, although the builder insisted there was no certainty a deal would be completed.
Mouchel employs several hundred people in departments previously run by Bournemouth council, including ICT, facilities management, revenues and benefits.
It was seized by its lenders in a pre-pack administration in the summer of 2012 after shareholders failed to back a last-ditch restructuring which would have wiped out much of its £140million debt.
The episode marked the final chapter in a huge decline in value for the group, which previously turned down takeover offers from rivals Costain and Interserve for more than £150m.
Since coming out of administration, the firm has restructured, losing around 1,500 staff in two years to currently employ around 6,500 nationwide.
A deal to buy Mouchel would boost Kier's civil engineering unit.
The news came on the same day the government announced a £15billion programme of road-building, one of Mouchel’s major activities.
Mouchel is valued at £400m and reported pre-tax profits of £20.8m last year on revenues of £55m.
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