Amec, the oil services and engineering consultancy, has made a provisional offer of £52m ($86m) for Australia’s GRD to strengthen its presence in the southern hemisphere and the UK’s waste management market.

The Sydney-listed company confirmed it received a cash offer of A$0.55 from Amec, valuing the engineering group at about A$106m. Its shares closed up 22 per cent at A$0.50 following the announcement.