McDevitt & Street takes British suitor.

• Position: Bovis Construction Ltd. - Tar Heel Tattler

McDevitt & Street takes British suitor

London-based Bovis Inc., the construction arm of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., bought McDevitt & Street of Charlotte, the state's largest private company.

"We considered significantly higher offers but found that Bovis offered the best fit," says Luther Cochrane, who became president and CEO in January. Chairman and owner Bob Street, who died in April at 51 from Lou Gehrig's disease, had put the company up for sale as part of his succession plan ["Life After Death," June 1990].

A deciding factor was Bovis' willingness to keep existing management in place, says...