UPDATE 2-URS wins Scott Wilson as CH2M withdraws offer
Thu Jul 1, 2010 11:15am EDTStocks
* CH2M says will no longer proceed with Scott Wilson buy * Says deal not value-enhancing at current valuation (Recasts lead, adds details, updates share movement)
July 1 (Reuters) - U.S. engineering firm URS Corp (URS.N) won a bidding war for British consultancy Scott Wilson Group (SWG.L) after privately held CH2M Hill withdrew its offer.
Scott Wilson's shares were up 7.2 percent at 285.25 pence on the London Stock Exchange, while those in URS were down 3.7 percent at $37.91 on the New York Stock Exchange at 1444 GMT.
On Wednesday, URS sweetened its bid for Scott Wilson, which has contracts for London's Crossrail, to 223 million pounds ($333.1 million) in the hope of trumping a rival offer from U.S. consultancy CH2M Hill.
San Francisco-based URS raised its offer by 80 pence to 290 pence in cash for each Scott Wilson share, 18 percent higher than Colorado-based CH2M's offer of 245 pence.
Scott Wilson shares have gained about 122.5 percent from their Friday close, the last day of trade before URS and CH2M announced their offers.
The news sent shares in rival British infrastructure design consultant Hyder Consulting (HYC.L) up 13 percent on Thursday.
Reporting by Aditi Samajpati and Tresa Sherin Morera in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty
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