Balfour Beatty Lures Ex-BHP Boss As New Chair

The struggling construction group Balfour Beatty (Other OTC: BAFBF - news) is lining up a former head of BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) 's energy business as its new chairman amid speculation that it could receive a fresh takeover bid as soon as this month.

Sky News has learnt that Philip Aiken, who sits on the boards of National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) and Aveva, is expected to be appointed as Balfour Beatty's chairman within days.

Mr Aiken's appointment will come just weeks after the company was forced to take a £70m hit to the profits of its UK construction business following a review of its books by the accountancy firm KPMG.

A string of profit warnings and management changes have sparked turmoil at one of the best-known names in the British construction industry.

Directors of Balfour Beatty hope that Mr Aiken will bring stability to its boardroom as new chief executive Leo Quinn attempts to restore the City's confidence in the company.

The new chairman is an experienced businessman, although he was involved in a major row over corporate governance last year when London-listed Essar Energy was the subject of a cut-price takeover deal.

Balfour Beatty said last September that an independent review would examine "focus on commercial controls, on 'cost to complete' and contract value forecasting and reporting at project level".

The company, which has a contract to help convert London's Olympic Stadium into a new home for West Ham United FC, has already issued a handful of profit alerts to the market in the last 18 months amid poor cost controls.

Its decline sparked the departure of its chief executive and finance director, with Mr Marshall also planning to leave when a successor is appointed.

The company had already taken £135m in provisions related to its UK construction arm, meaning that last month's charge took the total to more than £200m.

Last month, Sky News revealed the appointment of Philip Harrison , the finance chief of corporate travel agent Hogg Robinson (LSE: HRG.L - news) , to the same role at Balfour Beatty.

The construction group is also fighting for its independence, following the collapse of a merger with Carillion (Other OTC: CIOIF - news) last year and a £1bn approach from John Laing Infrastructure Fund for its infrastructure arm.

Carillion is free under Takeover Panel rules to make a new bid approach as soon as this month.

Balfour Beatty declined to comment.