Wood rejects improved takeover offer from Sidara

UK consulting and engineering firm Wood has rejected a third bid from Dubai-based company Sidara due to the offer ‘significantly’ undervaluing the company.

Wood said it received a third unsolicited, preliminary, and conditional proposal from Dar Al-Handasah Consultants Shair and Partners, also known as Sidara, for a cash offer of 220 pence ($2.79) per share on May 21.

This is an increase of around 3.8% to the previous proposal of 212 pence per Wood share submitted on May 14, which was, in turn, an increase of around 3.4% to the initial proposal of 205 pence per share submitted on April 30.

“The board, together with its financial advisers, carefully considered the third proposal [and] concluded that it continued to significantly undervalue the group and its prospects. Accordingly, the board unanimously rejected the third proposal on May 23,” the company explained in a statement.

Sidara now must either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Wood by June 5 or announce that it would be backing out.

Wood has stood firm even during previous takeover offers. Last May, US-listed private equity group Apollo decided to withdraw from the acquisition after sending a total of five offers, the last of which valued the company at about $2.1bn.