The payment relates to accounting irregularities in a joint venture established to build the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandra, Egypt in 1996.

Balfour Beatty reported the irregularities to the SFO and accepts that unlawful conduct took place in its subsidiary, which has since been disbanded.

The SFO recovered the money through a Civil Recovery Order, a new tool that allows the regulator to seize property obtained by unlawful conduct without going through a criminal investigation. The SFO said it is the first time it has used the tool against a big UK company.