Construction company Kier has acquired the solar energy business Beco for up to £2.4 million.

Construction company Kier has acquired the solar energy business Beco for up to £2.4 million.

In addition, Kier took on debt of £486,686 owed by Beco to the investment firm Finance South West.

Following the deal Beco will become the delivery arm of Kier Group’s newly formed business unit, Kier Energy Innovations (KEI), and Beco’s managing director Nigel Brunton-Reed is to join the board of KEI.

Paul Sheffield, Kier Group’s chief executive, comments that the acquisition will give Kier the capability to design and deliver photovoltaic (PV) solar energy installations, and adds: ‘It will accelerate our access to a growing opportunity and enable us to respond to the needs of our customers to provide energy saving solutions to their commercial and domestic premises.’

Devon-based Beco designs and installs renewable energy generators, primarily using solar power. Established in 1980, the company’s products are aimed at both businesses and households.

Bedfordshire-based Kier Group offers civil engineering and construction services to businesses across the UK and overseas. In the year to June 2010 Kier Group declared a pre-tax profit of £57.7 million on a turnover of around £2.1 billion.