Advisers are poised to rake in £120 million in fees connected with the £216 million takeover of Aberdeen engineering services company Wood Group, according to newly-released documents.
Wood Group and its Middle Eastern suitor Sidara expect to seal the deal in November, though it is conditional on the Scottish company signing off its delayed accounts by 31 October.
Papers the acquisition process reveal that Wood will spend £74.3 million and Sidara about £45m on financial and legal advice, reports The Times.
The talks have dragged on for months as Sidara scrutinised Wood’s balance sheet and prospects.
This has seen the Takeover Panel grant a number of extensions to the talks since Dubai-based Sidara made its first formal approach in April valuing Wood at 35p per share, or £242m.
The two companies finally agreed a 30p per share offer last month as Wood reached new settlement terms with its bankers.
Sidara willl provide a capital injection of $450 million to Wood. Of this, $250 million will be available upon shareholders approving the acquisition and a further $200 million will be available upon completion.
Before Sidara expressed interest Wood had been valued at about £1.6 billion when US private equity firm Apollo Global Management made an approach in 2023.
The new documents show Wood will pay about £36.2 million for financial advice and £32.5m for legal work, with £5m additional services on professional and £600,00 on public relations.
For Wood, Europa Partners and Rothschild have been the joint financial advisers. Alongside them JP Morgan Cazenove and Morgan Stanley are joint financial advisers and corporate brokers.
Slaughter and May is acting as lead legal adviser to Wood and Burness Paull is advising Wood on Scots law matters. FTI Consulting has worked on public relations.
Sidara expects to pay $32 million for financial and corporate broking, $21.1 million for legal advice and $1.9 million for accounting and tax. Its public relations bill is $1.9 million, with $2.5 million for additional professional services and costs.
Goldman Sachs International and Greenhill have been the financial advisers to Sidara. Allen Overy Shearman Sterling is the lead legal firm, White & Case is working on finance elements and Dickson Minto on Scots law.
Saranac Partners and RB&A Partners have been providing debt advice and public relations has come from Brunswick.
Wood and Sidara declined to comment on the adviser fees.
Shares in Wood, which employs 35,000 people globally, have been suspended since May pending publication of its audited accounts.
The Wood directors have said they continue to have confidence in its underlying business, end markets, and long-term growth potential. Its order book has grown in the first half of 2025, demonstrating Wood’s continued success in winning long-term contracts from major clients and a highly skilled workforce that continues to deliver.
However, the directors have recognised that it has been significantly impacted by multiple issues over recent years that have led to an inability to generate positive cash flow.
These issues include regulatory fines, significant loss-making contracts, restructuring charges and litigation payments.
Consequently, the planned deleveraging following the acquisition of Amec Foster Wheeler in
2017 proved challenging and required significant business disposals.
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