GDF Suez buys Balfour Beatty WorkPlace for €220m

French energy group GDF Suez has acquired British construction firm Balfour Beatty's WorkPlace division (BBW), which specialises in energy services, Les Echos newspaper reported Friday. GDF Suez chief executive Gerard Mestrallet told the financial daily that the purchase price was 220 million euros ($294 million). "This transaction allows us to more than double our energy efficiency operations in Britain," he said. "Balfour Beatty Workplace strengthens us on the local market." Full details of the deal are expected to be announced by the French group later on Friday, according to the report. BBW employs nearly 9,000 workers and specialises in facilities management, maintaining the energy consumption of nine major hospitals, 200 schools, 500 government buildings and eight nuclear power plans, according to its website. Combined with the Britain-based Cofely unit of GDF Suez, which already employs around 2,200 workers there, the new entity is expected to have a turnover of some 800 million pounds (930 million euros, $1.2 billion), making it one of the largest players in the country, according to Les Echos.