Wood Group has finally agreed a takeover offer from Dubai-based consultancy Sidara which is subject to a number of ‘highly unusual’ conditions.
Among them is that the reduced 30p per share cash offer, valuing the Aberdeen energy services company at about £207 million, is conditional on publication of the delayed audited accounts on or before 31 October.
In today’s anticipated agreement Sidara will inject $450 million into Wood which will become its Energy and Materials division.
The deal, which has been negotiated over several months represents a 5p per share reduction in the proposed price in April. It came hours after Wood announced the sale of its North America Transmission & Distribution engineering business to power solutions group Qualus for $110 million.
Wood is currently subject to a Financial Conduct Authority inquiry and its shares have been suspended.
Sidara said it values the talent in the Wood organisation and intends to retain the Wood brand. In the near term, Sidara’s clear priority is to provide greater stability to Wood, bring financial strength to the business and to invest in Wood’s client relationships. In the longer term, Sidara believes that Wood would provide an attractive platform to drive growth across its enlarged business.
The statement says Wood’s business is underpinned by excellent technical capabilities, an established and global client base and a healthy order book, as seen in the first half of 2025.
The board of Wood has made progress in transitioning the business away from higher risk large-scale lump sum turnkey contracts and streamlining the business in recent years.
However, Wood has not generated any sustainable free cash flow since 2017, with a total free cash outflow from 2017 to 2024 of approximately $1.5 billion, reflecting multiple issues including regulatory fines, significant loss-making contracts, restructuring charges and litigation payments.
More recently, the significant unwind of working capital as the business moved away from large-scale LSTK work, and the persistence of multiple exceptional cash items, have prevented Wood from becoming free cash flow positive as previously expected.
The board of Wood believes that the current capital structure of the Wood Group is unsustainable. When taking account of cash requirements in the business, Wood’s gross indebtedness is approximately $1.6 billion. Wood’s liquidity to fund its ongoing operations is currently limited.
The acquisition is expected to complete in the first half of 2026.
Talal Shair, chair and chief executive of Sidara, said: “This is a transformational moment for our company. Through this move, Wood becomes part of Sidara, creating a global, world-class, privately held engineering and design group.
“In the short term, our additional financial support will bring greater stability, but our vision is for Wood to take the lead in energy and materials. We have always admired what Wood has built – its talented people, global clients, and technical capabilities.
“This transaction allows us to strengthen client relationships, expand into new markets, and serve a broader range of global clients. We look forward to realising Wood’s full potential within Sidara.”
Roy Franklin, chair of Wood, said: “Today is an important milestone in providing a stable foundation for Wood to deliver on its significant potential.
“The board’s recommendation of Sidara’s offer follows an extensive review of the viability of all available options and it is the unanimous view of the Wood Board that this is the best option for all stakeholders, whilst delivering some value for our shareholders after what has been a very difficult few years for the company.”
Ken Gilmartin, CEO of Wood, said: “This announcement brings us closer to finalising a challenging chapter in Wood’s history. The acquisition by Sidara will solve our near-term liquidity challenges and strengthen the company in the longer term.
“In Sidara, we will have an owner that values our people, brand and the deep client relationships we have built over the years and together we will be in a stronger position to deliver for our clients and achieve our potential.”
Sidara is one of the leading privately-held planning, design, engineering and project management groups in the world. Since its inception in 1956, Sidara has grown organically and through strategic acquisitions.
It is a global partnership, registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre, with a significant operational presence in London, with more than 21,500 specialists, operating across more than 300 offices and more than 60 countries advising and supporting some of the world’s biggest and most complex design and engineering projects.
Today’s group of companies rebranded as Sidara in 2023 and members of the group include Dar, Perkins & Will and TYLin. Sidara is 100% owned by the working partners within the business.
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