Lendlease UK will return to the former brand name Bovis after the Australian parent group completed the sale of the UK construction business to US private equity firm Atlas Holdings
The A$70m (£35m) sale of the Lendlease UK business to Atlas Holdings was first announced in January of this year and was completed today on satisfaction of conditions, with A$20m (around £9.7m) to be paid in June 2026.
It is the final chapter in Lendlease’s exit from international construction and follows the sale of the Group’s American and Asian construction businesses.
US private equity firm Atlas Holdings’ portfolio of companies includes cladding specialist Permasteelisa and US steel fabricator Veritas Steel.
The Connecticut-based investor operates a portfolio of 26 companies across multiple sectors and generates around $16bn in annual revenue. The deal was under investigation by officials under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, but appears to have been approved.
Bovis was first founded 140 years ago
Charles Bovis founded CW Bovis & Co in London in 1885 and the firm was one of the few construction companies to go public in the 1920s. Eventually acquired in 1974 by P&O for £25m just two years after Bovis banking subsidiary Twentieth Century Banking was hit by a financial crisis.
The housing business was seperated and became Bovis Homes in 1997, which is still active today.
Bovis has been involved in many of the UK’s most famous construction projects, such as:
- Lloyds of London’s City Head Quarters in 1980
- The first phase of Canary Wharf in 1991
- The Trafford Centre in Manchester in 1998
- The Scottish Parliament Building in 2004
- The Athlete’s Village for the 2012 Olympics
- 8 Bishopsgate in the City of London in 2024
Australian firm Lendlease acquired Bovis Construction in 1999, renaming it Bovis Lend Lease and dropping Bovis from the brand entirely in 2011.
David Cadiot has been named as chief executive officer of Bovis. Previous Lendlease UK lead Simon Gorski stepped down last summer after the sale was first announced.
Lendlease Group chief executive Tony Lombardo said “The exit of international construction builds on our progress to simplify Lendlease as we look to lower our risk profile and increase securityholder returns.”
“The Lendlease UK team, now once again known as Bovis, has a long track record of successfully delivering large, complex projects and we look forward to working with their talented Leadership Team and associates to build upon the Bovis legacy in this next chapter,” said Atlas operating partner and member of the Bovis board of directors Peter Bacon.
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