Clough ceases trading ahead of takeover

Perth engineering firm Clough has ceased trading on the ASX after securing the green light from shareholders and the Federal Court to proceed with a $462 million takeover by South African group Murray & Roberts.

Clough today suspended its shares from trading as it awaits the implementation of a scheme of agreeement under which Murray & Roberts will acquire all of the remaining shares in Clough that it does not already own.

Clough will be removed from the exchange's official list once the scheme is implemented next month.

Murray & Roberts currently owns 61.6 per cent of Clough, having built the stake in stages after initially acquiring a shareholding in 2003.

The Federal Court yesterday approved the takeover under the terms of the Corporations Act, while Clough shareholders approved the transaction at a general meeting last week.

Clough was established in Perth by John Oswald Clough in 1919, starting life as a residential and commercial building company.

The company diversified into civil and heavy engineering contracting in the 1950s before entering the oil and gas sector the following decade under the guidance of Harold Clough, who served as the company's chairman for nearly 50 years before stepping down in 2007.

Clough ventured into new markets in Indonesia, the Middle East and Africa in the 1970s and secured construction work over the following decades on some of Western Australia's biggest resources projects, including Woodside's North Rankin oil and gas project.

The company listed on the ASX in 1998 and has grown to employ more than 6,000 staff across operating centres in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Asia, with 1,274 of these staff based in WA.

Clough shares closed at $1.45 on the company's final day of trading.