Big Move as UK Civil Engineering Giant M Group Acquires Telent

Street works firm M Group, which was last year acquired by private equity firm CVC (here) and also harbours a telecoms (broadband and mobile) focused division, has today announced that they’ve acquired rival UK and Ireland focused technology, telecoms and civil engineering firm Telent for an undisclosed sum.

On completion of the transaction, which is currently still subject to regulatory approval, M Group said they would be “even better placed to tackle the evolving challenges of the ageing infrastructure across the UK and Ireland“, not least by combining M Group’s infrastructure service offering with Telent’s technology and digital solution capabilities.

Telent has somewhat of a “differentiated position” in mission-critical communications, network infrastructure and end-to-end cybersecurity services, which will complement M Group. “It also expands M Group’s reach into attractive adjacent markets, including the public sector, defence, emergency services and education,” said the announcement.

The hope is that bringing Telent into the M Group family will “strengthen longstanding relationships with shared customers“, including Transport for London (TfL), National Highways, Network Rail, Virgin Media / O2, BT, EE and Openreach.

Andrew Findlay, CEO of M Group, said:

“This is a hugely transformative deal for M Group and I am delighted Telent is joining us.

We recognise the strength of Telent’s differentiated capabilities, market position and talented people that make it a great business. With the acquisition of Telent, M Group will be even better placed to deliver essential infrastructure services for life.

Our ambitious growth strategy reflects a combination of organic and inorganic growth and this acquisition builds on our strong track record of strategic M&A. It will enable us to deliver even greater value and expertise to our clients and so help the people, communities and economies of the UK and Ireland adapt to a changing world.”

Jo Gretton, CEO of Telent, added:

“Joining M Group marks an exciting new chapter for Telent, reinforcing our leading position in network and technology solutions.

Telent is a business with a long trading heritage and an excellent reputation. With M Group’s extensive infrastructure expertise and scale, we are well placed to accelerate our growth and continue to be a trusted partner for organisations at the forefront of the digital revolution.”

The civil engineering sector, particularly on the telecoms side of things, has been under a lot of strain recently due to high interest rates, competition and rising build costs. This has in turn has caused a lot of network operators to slow and even pause some deployments as they revaluate their future strategies, which has had a knock-on impact for a lot of linked civil engineer firms (job cuts, contract cancellations etc.). Some of this may well be driving today’s deal.