Wood Group shareholders have approved a cut-price takeover by Dubai-based Sidara, bringing to an end a tumultuous saga and crystallising steep losses for many investors.
At a meeting held on Monday in Aberdeen and online, 89 per cent of votes were cast in favour of Sidara’s 30p-a-share offer, which values the decades-old engineering company at about £207mn.
That is about 95 per cent below its peak value of £5.3bn in 2018, following a series of mis-steps and accounting problems.
Wood Group said it was “pleased” with the results of the shareholder vote on the deal, which is still subject to regulatory approvals.
One person close to the transaction said Sidara was “looking forward to completing the transaction as soon as possible”.
Aberdeen-based Wood employs about 35,000 people in more than 60 countries, providing engineering and project management work for oil and gas, mining and other energy projects.
The company has struggled since its £2.2bn acquisition of Amec Foster Wheeler in 2017, which lumbered it with high debts, and has burned through cash.
Sidara attempted to buy Wood Group at a far higher valuation last year but was rebuffed by directors who argued that it undervalued the company.
The board then agreed to engage with Sidara at 230p a share in June 2024. Sidara walked away from that deal two months later over “geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty”, sending shares down almost 40 per cent.
The stock plunged again in March after an independent review uncovered “failures” in the group’s financial culture, including information withheld from auditors. UK regulators said in June that they were investigating Wood Group.
The delay to its financial results resulted in shares being suspended on May 1. The stock began trading again this month after the company published its 2024 accounts. They showed an annual pre-tax loss from continuing operations of $2.7bn, reflecting a $2.2bn charge for goodwill impairment and intangible assets.
Sidara returned again in August with a 35p-a-share offer that was then reduced to 30p.
Recommending the offer in August, Wood Group’s directors said alternatives would “likely generate materially less, and potentially zero, value for shareholders”.
