Acquisition

Balfour Beatty PLC
19 March 2002

BALFOUR BEATTY ACQUIRES KENTONS, THE UTILITY SERVICES CONTRACTOR, FOR £28
MILLION

Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group,
announces today that it has acquired Kentons, the Yorkshire-based utility
services contractor, for a total consideration of £28 million.  Kentons provides
a complete asset maintenance and replacement service for the gas, water and
waste water sectors, including investigation, design, construction and
commissioning.

The consideration comprises a payment of £18 million for Kentons shares and the
assumption of approximately £10 million of net debt.  £1.5 million of the
consideration is deferred by up to one year.

Mike Welton, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, commenting on the acquisition
today, said:

'I am pleased to add Kentons, a quality business with a strong position in its
markets, to our extensive network of infrastructure support services businesses.
  Kentons, together with John Kennedy, which we acquired in October of last
year, and the work of our Power Networks business in the electricity sector,
constitutes a major force in the UK utility services market.  We believe that
this market will continue to grow as customers respond to the need to upgrade
and enhance their existing systems and to outsource an increasing range of
services.'

Kentons is forecast to have sales in the 12 months to 30 April 2002 of £65
million and operating profits of approximately £4.4 million.  It employs 1,200
people throughout the UK.  It provides services for the new connection,
rehabilitation, repair and maintenance of clean water, waste water and gas
networks.

It has a forward order book of approximately £190 million and is preferred
bidder on a further £75 million of work.  Its principal customers, on long-term
contracts, include Transco (First Connect), Yorkshire Water, Northumbrian Water,
United Utilities, the Scottish water authorities and Mid-Kent Water.

The addition of Kentons gives Balfour Beatty annual sales of approximately £250
million and an order book of over £450 million in the utilities sector.

Following privatisation, gas and water utilities have developed a much greater
propensity to outsource asset maintenance, renewal and other services.  This
trend is accelerating as utilities seek to create efficiencies through the
outsourcing of an increasingly wide range of asset management and other
operational services in addition to maintenance and renewal.  In addition,
safety considerations are resulting in markedly increased investment in asset
renewal, particularly in the gas sector.

The consideration for the acquisition will be satisfied from the group's
existing cash resources and the issuance of £6.1 million of loan notes to the
vendors.

It is anticipated that the acquisition will be earnings enhancing in 2002.


Enquiries to:
Tim Sharp
Tel: [phone]

www.balfourbeatty.com
www.kentons.co.uk

High resolution photographs are available to the media free of charge at
www.newscast.co.uk ([phone]).

Notes to Editors

1.  Balfour Beatty has long-term support service business in a number of areas,
including road, rail, premises and utility system management and maintenance.
These include:

-  Balfour Beatty Rail maintains three Railtrack areas in long-term contracts
worth approximately £160 million per annum.

-  John Kennedy maintains gas and water pipelines for Transco and several
regional water companies on long-term contracts, to a value of approximately
£100 million per annum.

-  Balfour Beatty Power Networks maintains and enhances electricity transmission
and distribution networks and has annual sales of approximately £100 million.

-  RCS Ltd maintains roads for a number of local authorities and for Highways
Agency trunk road maintenance areas on long-term contracts to a value of
approximately £140 million per annum.

-  Haden Building Management manages and maintains premises and facilities for
clients in the public and private sector on long-term contracts.  Its customers
include the Benefits Agency, Shell, KPMG, Royal Bank of Scotland, BT, Intel, AWE
Aldermaston, Tesco and Sainsbury.  Its current sales are approximately £180
million per annum.

2.  Balfour Beatty's other services businesses include project and programme
management through Heery in the US and Europe, building management controls and
security control systems through Andover Controls and Integral Technologies,
principally in the US, and a share in the long-term management contract for
Devonport Dockyard in Devon.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange