Balfour Beatty became the second company this week to raise money through a surprise placing of shares, to give it more financial headroom in the current economic climate.

The construction and engineering group, which has recently completed a handful of acquisitions, raised £186 million by placing shares that increased its share capital by almost 10 per cent.

Balfour said the placing of 43.3 million shares at 430p was to support growth after its acquisitions, triggering speculation that it could be preparing to announce further acquisitions and bolt-on deals.

The share placing weighed on the company's share price, which fell more than 5 per cent in early trading. Later, the shares were down 3 per cent at 438p.

In an interim management statement, Balfour Beatty said that trading in 2008 had been strong and that it expected to deliver results at the top end of analysts' expectations.

Balfour Beatty completed a $350 million (£180 million) acquisition to buy GMH Military Housing in the US at the beginning of the month as part of its push into the growing US public private partnership market.

In March, the company extended its presence in the UK's regional contracting market by buying Dean & Dyball, a leading family-run contractor, based in the South West, for £45 million.

These deals have reduced the group's net cash position.

Last month, Balfour also completed its acquisition of Blackpool Airport and there has been speculation that the group, which already owns Exeter International Airport, would be keen to buy one of BAA's airports.

Ian Tyler, chief executive, said: “After seven or eight years of supporting growth with our own cash only, the moment came to strengthen our balance sheet following the completion of the $350.5 million acquisition of GMH Military Housing in the US.

Balfour has seen a number of big project awards this year including winning the contract to build the £300 million London Olympics Aquatics Centre.

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