Canadian construction and engineering giant SNC Lavalin has launched a £1.2billion bid for oil and gas services firm Kentz.
The FTSE-250 firm’s share price soared 32% to close at 929p last night after the Montreal-based group’s bid outpaced a £700million offer that Amec abandoned last year.
The Kentz board unanimously backed the offer.
“We feel that the offer recognises the value of our future prospects, world-class client base, and our excellent people; the ultimate assets of our business. It also offers certainty, in cash, to Kentz shareholders,” said Christian Brown, chief executive of Kentz.
Adding Kentz’ 14,500 worldwide employees creates a combined company of about 44,500 employees, with 18,500 dedicated to the oil & gas sector.
“We look forward to adding Kentz to our group and significantly strengthening our capabilities in the oil & gas sector,” said Robert Card, president and chief executive of SNC-Lavalin Group.
“We are excited by the prospect of merging the excellent capabilities of our two oil & gas teams under the leadership of Christian Brown, Kentz’s CEO, which will create a world-class team inside of SNC-Lavalin to better serve our combined clients worldwide.”
After the oil and gas services giant Amec’s bid to acquire Kentz collapsed in September, the FTSE-100 firm went on to acquire US-based Foster Wheeler in a £1.9billion deal in January as part of a wave of consolidation in the sector.
Kentz also acquired US-based Valerus Field Solutions for £255million to increase its footprint in the Americas.
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