The company told the Stock Exchange this morning: “Kier Group plc confirms that it has held preliminary discussions regarding a potential acquisition of Mouchel.
“There can be no certainty that an acquisition of Mouchel will be completed.
“A further announcement will be made if and when appropriate.”
Any takeover would follow-on from Kier’s £221m acquisition of May Gurney in July 2013.
A deal for Mouchel would further boost Kier’s presence in the civil engineering sector.
The consultant could cost around £400m according to financial blog Betaville.
Mouchel suffered a torrid year in 2012 when it was rescued by its banks and a new management team.
Since then the consultant has been on a recovery path with a turnover of £555m in its last full financial year.
Kier’s turnover was £3bn last year.
