Mitie buys specialist engineer Forest for up to £7m

(Sharecast News) - Mitie said on Thursday that it has bought Forest, a specialist engineering business delivering critical refrigeration maintenance services, for up to £7m in cash, as it hailed record contract awards in the first half. Mitie said the acquisition will enable it to self-deliver refrigeration services as part of its wider market leading 'Intelligent Engineering' proposition.

"It also creates significant opportunities to expand Forest's proven, highly scalable operating model nationally and into the retail and distribution sectors, where Mitie already has a strong presence in security and hygiene services," it said.

Once the deal completes, Forest's 40 specialist engineers will join Mitie's technical services division.

News of the acquisition came alongside results for the six months to 30 September, which showed a 10.4% jump in group revenue to £2.68bn. This includes 6.4% organic growth driven primarily by net contract wins, projects and pricing, and a 4% contribution from acquisitions.

Mitie also highlighted record contract awards of £3.8bn, up from £3.7bn a year earlier.

The order book rose 7% to £16.5bn and operating profit before other items was up 8% to £109m. Operating profit was down 3% to £61m.

Chief executive Phil Bentley said: "At the start of our Strategic Plan, our ambition was to increase revenue by £1.2bn to £5.6bn in FY27 through high single digit annual revenue growth. We are comfortably on track to exceed this target, having delivered double digit growth over several successive periods, including in the first half of this year."