Rumours that Scottish builder is close to being bought by McLaughlin & Harvey for 拢26m

Northern Ireland contractor McLaughlin & Harvey is in negotiations to buy Scottish builder Barr Holdings.

Sources close to Barr say the company is taking the offer 鈥渧ery seriously鈥� even though officially the company is denying it is up for sale.

Scottish newspaper reports say the price tag for Barr could be in excess of 拢26m. For the year ending 31 March it posted a pre-tax profit of 拢2.6m on a turnover of 拢211m.

Barr鈥檚 activities include construction including civil engineering and stadiums, industrial work such as quarry work as well as manufacturing and waste management. Its projects include the construction of North Glasgow College鈥檚 new campus and the design and build of Tesco鈥檚 first eco store which is based in Wick, Scotland.

McLaughlin & Harvey鈥檚 business includes construction, facilities management and joinery.

This is not the first acquisition attempt on Barr in 2006. Earlier this year its was approached by Kier which carried out due diligence on the company. However a source close to Barr says it was 鈥渘ot impressed by what was on the table.鈥�