The move caps a dramatic few months for the contractor which has launched a series of failed takeover bids itself for Mouchel.

Renaissance chairman Erman Ilicak said it was in early-stage talks to take a controlling stake in an unnamed, 140-year-old British company.

Ilicak told reporters the potential target specialized in building nuclear plants, railways and water networks and had annual revenues of 1.5 billion euros.

The detailed description, analysts say, points squarely at Costain.

“It’s difficult to come up with too many more suggestions other than Costain,” Panmure Gordon analyst Andy Brown told Reuters.

Costain’s bid to buy Mouchel failed recently, after the consultant struck an alternative deal with Interserve.

Costain declined to comment, as did its two major shareholders, Kuwait’s Al Kharafi and UEM Builders, a unit of Malalysia’s UEM Group, which each have stakes of about 22%.

Renaissance, known as Ronesans in Turkish, already operates in Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Libya and Saudi Arabia.

Any eventual deal would allow Renaissance to build on Costain’s track record and established relationships in the Middle East.