Acquisition talks for Tutor Perini dropped because of “volatile market conditions”

Tutor Perini, one of the largest general contractors in the U.S., appears to be the latest company to see a major deal scrapped by the coronavirus crisis.

The California-based company announced Wednesday night that talks to acquire it have ended “in light of continuing volatile market conditions.” Tutor Perini didn’t specify the other party in the negotiations, but Reuters reported earlier this year that private equity firm Apollo Global Management had offered to buy the construction company for nearly $1 billion.

Apollo and Tutor Perini didn’t immediately return requests seeking comment.

It would not be the first deal to fall apart during the pandemic. Earlier this month, South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments announced that it was backing away from its $5.8 billion purchase of Anbang Insurance Group’s U.S hotel portfolio, Reuters reported.

The scuttled deals have also led to legal fights. Realogy filed a lawsuit in April alleging that SIRVA and MDP have used the crisis as an excuse to wriggle out of its agreement to buy its relocation business for $400 million.

During its first-quarter earnings call last week, Tutor Perini reported a net income of $17.4 million and a backlog of $10.6 billion, down from the record backlog of $11.6 billion seen during the same quarter last year.

The company indicated that most of its projects have been unaffected by the pandemic, as a “vast majority” have been deemed essential. In a press release, the firm indicated that it “does not currently foresee any adverse material impact from the pandemic on its financial results for this year.”

Write to Kathryn Brenzel at kathryn@therealdeal.com