By Rebecca Thurlow And Daniel Stacey
SYDNEY--Australia's biggest construction company Leighton
Holdings Ltd. has agreed to sell half of its services arm to
private-equity firm Apollo Global Management for cash proceeds of
700 million Australian dollars (US$570 million).
Leighton said Wednesday it will form a 50:50 joint venture
partnership with Apollo comprising the services division, which
builds and manages communications, energy and infrastructure
projects across Australia. The venture will use the Leighton and
Thiess brand names.
Apollo's purchase sees it further expand its focus on
construction and engineering services firms, branching out beyond
its traditional focus on real estate and debt.
The deal gives the services business an enterprise value of
A$1.075 billion and will reduce Leighton's gearing by about 10
percentage points, the company said in a statement to the
Australian Securities Exchange.
Write to Rebecca Thurlow at rebecca.thurlow@wsj.com and Daniel
Stacey at daniel.stacey@wsj.com
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