Wood gives Sidara takeover talks more time

UK consulting and engineering firm Wood has extended the deadline by which Dar Al-Handasah Consultants Shair and Partners Holdings, otherwise known as Sidara, is required to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Wood or back out from the deal.

Last week, Wood stated that it received a holistic non-binding conditional proposal from Sidara, including a possible offer of 35 pence in cash per Wood share to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company.

This new offer is worth around £242m ($320m) and includes taking on Wood’s outstanding debt of approximately $1.1bn, which the company is looking to refinance. Sidara would also inject $450m into the UK company in two tranches.

An extension to further negotiations with Sidara was already made, and it was supposed to end on April 17. However, to enable satisfaction or waiver of the pre-conditions to Sidara’s waiver or firm offer, the company decided to extend the deadline once again.

Now, Sidara is required to make a firm offer for Wood or announce that it does not intend to make an offer by no later than 5 pm British time on May 15. This deadline can be extended further.

In light of the extensive work needed to conclude its audit for FY24, Wood expects that it would not be able to publish its FY24 accounts by April 30; in that case, the company’s shares would be suspended from trading.

Wood did point out that there can be no certainty that an offer will be made even if the pre-conditions are satisfied or waived.