Wood restarts takeover talks with Sidara

UK consulting and engineering firm Wood has responded to recent media speculation regarding an approach from Dubai-based company Sidara for a possible offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company.

Wood confirmed the reports on Tuesday and directed its shareholders to take no action concerning the proposal.

The company also stated that there was no certainty that the offer would be made nor did it disclose any terms of a potential offer.

Dar Al-Handasah Consultants Shair and Partners, also known as Sidara, is now required to announce a firm intention to make an offer for the company by March 24 or to state that it would not be making any offer.

Sidara sent four takeover bids to Wood in 2024. The fourth bid, which was at the time described as “final”, was sent to the UK firm in late May 2024. The cash offer of 230 pence per Wood share valued the company at around £1.58bn ($2bn).

The first offer from the Dubai-based firm was for 205 per share and was sent on April 30, 2024. The following offer was a 3.4% improvement on the first while the third was a 3.8% improvement on the previous one.

Wood believed that none of the offers were good enough and refused all four, stating that they significantly undervalued the company and its prospects.

Before Sidara started making offers, US-listed private equity group Apollo offered to buy Wood five times, with the largest valuing the company at about $2.1bn. The US firm eventually withdrew from the acquisition in May 2023.