Aberdeen-based oil services group Wood has extended negotiations with Dubai-based Sidara to take over the company.
According to a release from Wood, discussions are continuing and the company’s board has extended the date by which Sidara is required either to announce a firm intention to make an offer or decline to offer.
Sidara, also known as Dar Al-Handasah Consultants Shair and Partners Holdings, originally had until 24 March to announce a firm intention to make an offer for Wood.
The group has been seeking to buy Wood since 2024. The firm walked away in August after months of takeover speculation, but negotiations were revived in February this year.
Sidara is seeking to make a cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Wood, having made a non-binding, conditional proposal.
The Wood announcement added that there can be no certainty that an offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which it will be made.
In its 2024 negotiations, Sidara made a “‘final offer” to acquire Wood at 230p per share. This would have valued the company at around £1.6 billion.
However, it later said that it had opted against making an improved offer “in light of rising geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty”.
Wood’s share price has since fallen considerable from around 200p per share to its current level of around 34.7p per share.
Wood has also been in the sights of US firm Apollo, which sought to buy the company in 2023. It recently went on a buying spree, dropping $1bn to buy Aberdeen’s OEG Group, and another $1bn the same week to get a stake in BP Pipelines.
Sidara operates in 60 countries with close to 20,500 employees across 308 offices and 21 group companies.
The firm posted $2.8bn in revenues in 2023, and is privately owned with around 44 shareholders.
