Canadian bid for UK engineer Atkins likely to get competition all-clear

SNC-Lavalin’s £2.1 billion tilt at UK engineering firm Atkins is likely to be waved through by competition authorities because of the “fragmented” nature of the sector, according to a poll of analysts on Wednesday.

SNC makes most of its revenues from oil and gas ventures in Canada and the Middle East, while Atkins is stronger in the UK and Europe, where it works on projects like Crossrail (pictured) and Hinkley Point.

This means the tie-up is unlikely to give the merged duo a monopoly in either markets.

“They may brush up against each other occasionally but there’s unlikely to be competition concerns,” said Liberum’s Joe Brent.

Raymond James’s Frederic Bastien, who covers SNC in Canada, said: “There’s no real overlap between the two companies, so there’s limited risk of redundancies and lay-offs for Atkins professionals.”

Competition concerns have been a key hurdle for deals in the UK this year, with LSE-Deutsche Börse collapsing due to anti-trust concerns and further scrutiny of Tesco-Booker.

Atkins declined to comment. The Competition and Markets Authority did not comment.