Andrew Goodall, chief executive of privately owned Brunswick, said: 鈥淲e will certainly look at other opportunities. The market value of most shares in the sector has come off 25% and there are a lot of opportunities out there.鈥�
Any bid would be done on a friendly basis. Analysts said that Swan Hill and Prowting are potential targets, although Goodall refused to mention any names.
Goodall did confirm, however, that the McAlpine deal was dead. 鈥淎s far as I am concerned the talks are over,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e simply weren鈥檛 able to reach any agreement.鈥�
In a statement released last Friday, McAlpine said: 鈥淏runswick and its partners have been unable to provide satisfactory evidence of their ability to finance a cash offer for the company鈥檚 share capital.鈥�
It also forecasts pre-tax profit of not less than 拢46m for the year to 31 December 1999 鈥� an increase of 35% on last year鈥檚 figure of 拢34m.
