Cyril Sweett has agreed to buy Nisbet, which also provides project management and health and safety services, in a deal that includes its Nisbet Project Safety subsidiary.

The deal is expected to close by 1 April and has been agreed for £5.9 million. On completion, £1.8 million will be paid in cash with more than 2.2 million shares also due.

A deferred £648,000 cash payment is due in six months, with £1.3 million expected in the next two years. On the second anniversary of completion, an adjustment will be made to the final consideration if shares are valued at less than £1.

The deal strengthens the group’s operations in the public sector as Nisbet is expected to generate some 40 per cent of its revenues this year from the education sector.

Nisbet chairman Martin Hadnutt said the deal will take his company to the next stage of its development.

The acquired business has 12 Partners and 88 staff in offices across the Midlands, London, the South and Southwest of England. It recorded a £6.9 million turnover in the year to October 2007, and EBITDA of £1.1 million.