Jarvis sells phone masts stake
CRISIS-hit engineering group Jarvis has sold its stake in a mobile phone mast company as part of a strategy to dispose of non-core businesses, it announced last night.
The loss-making schools and rail contractor, which last week unveiled a survival plan after falling £246.7m into the red, said it had sold loss-making firm Ultramast for nearly £290,000. But the deal could be worth up to £2.1m, depending on the firm's performance over the next five years.
It was bought by a joint venture company formed by investment bank Babcock & Brown and four previous managers of Ultramast.
Ultramast, which owns the rights to build mobile phone radio masts on the UK's rail network, recorded pre-tax losses of £165,000 in the year to 31 March and employs four members of staff.
Announcing its annual results last week, Jarvis said it would dispose of a number of non-core businesses in order to reduce its £230m debt.
The strategy is part of a recovery plan that will see it focus on its road and rail businesses and stop taking on construction projects in accommodation services.
One of the areas for focus for the new Jarvis business will be rail renewals, which the company said last week had delivered new business levels beyond expectations.
It no longer carries out day-to-day rail maintenance after handing back its contracts to Network Rail.
