Potential bidders for loss-making UK subsidiary Ballast are tipped to include YJL, Hochtief and HBG.
Ballast Nedam's deputy chairman is heading a team of senior managers handling the sale of Ballast, its troubled UK arm.

A Ballast spokesperson said Geert Wirken, who is based in the Netherlands, was in charge of the sale process. The team also includes Ballast managing director Philip Cooper. The firm has denied rumours that Cooper would leave the firm this week.

The spokesperson said: "The team is not just looking at the sale but also ways to take the business forward."

He added that Ballast has frozen the redundancy programme it started last year, with decisions still to be made on 50 of the 250 jobs expected to be axed.

The spokesperson also emphasised that although Ballast Nedam wanted to sell its subsidiary in one piece, it was still considering all its options.

Ballast has attracted "significant" interest from potential buyers. These are thought to include YJL, Hochtief and HBG.

One potential bidder said: "It hasn't got time on its side because staff are leaving in droves in some areas, but it is still an attractive option. There's nothing wrong with the business 鈥� some projects have just gone wrong."

Ballast was put up for sale after posting losses of 拢32m for the first six months of the year. Ballast Nedam says the problems are restricted to the southern regions and that the PFI and northern operations are profitable.

One contractor said Ballast had been underbidding with "suicidal figures" on projects over the past two years.

He said: "It underbids to get talking, then tries to raise it from there. It was madness and has seen it post Laing-like losses, even though the contracts are nowhere near as big as those that hit Laing."

One example of this practice was when Ballast bid 拢5.7m for a job for which rivals bid more than 拢6m.

Wirken, who along with chairman Rene Knottman makes up the group's board of control, has been with Ballast Nedam since 1987.

He has responsibility for the group's UK arm and is in charge of finance, legal matters, investor relations, human resources and Ballast's dredging operations.

The choice: Break it up, or sell it as a whole

Ballast Nedam has a choice about selling its UK subsidiary. Which way it jumps will depend on how much interest the business attracts. One option is to sell it in one big piece. This is what Ballast Nedam wants to do because it is the easiest and cleanest way to get out of the UK. It might appeal to buyers because it will give them a complete business, but it also means getting the dross. The sheer size (turnover of more than 拢400m) could also put some suitors off. The second option is breaking Ballast up. Ballast Nedam is unlikely to get many bids for poorly performing southern operations, but there will be no shortage of bidders for the profitable northern and PFI units and the bitesize chunks could lure some smaller players into the fray.