International engineering company AMEC announced it was in discussions to buy Serco's nuclear Technical Consulting Services (TCS) business.
TCS works primarily with the UK civil and defence nuclear markets and has annual revenues of approximately £70m.
The deal was confirmed in a separate announcement by FTSE 100 Serco, although neither firm revealed how much the deal might be worth.
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Both added that there was no certainty that the transaction would go ahead and said a further announcement would be made in due course.
AMEC is riding high on the back of a strong order book and said in April that it expected to deliver double-digit underlying revenue growth in 2012.
A strong first quarter of 2012 led some analysts to forecast that the firm would seek not only bolt-on acquisitions, but also 'transformational opportunities' this year.
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