Engineer and project manager Amec has joined forces with Foster Wheeler in a deal involving two major players in the UK’s oil and gas sector.
The creation of Amec Foster Wheeler, with more than 40,000 staff worldwide and an order book worth £6.3billion, comes after a deal announced in January for Amec to buy Foster Wheeler for $3.2billion (£2billion).
The tie-up means UK-based Amec, which employed 28,500 people in the energy, mining and infrastructure sectors, will be able to double its revenues from growth regions outside its heartland of Europe and the Americas.
Foster Wheeler’s 13,000 strong workforce includes staff in Aberdeen and its operational HQ at Reading.
It was formed in 1927 from a merger of two companies based in the United States – the Power Specialty Company and the Wheeler Condenser & Engineering Company, whose roots go back to 1891.
The new company will operate across the whole of the oil and gas industry – from production through to refining, processing and distribution of derivative products – and in the mining, clean energy, power generation, pharma, environment and infrastructure markets.
Amec chief executive Samir Brikho, who is taking the same role in the combined company, said: “In creating our new company we are building on the proud heritage, skills and customer relationships of two already successful and highly respected businesses.”
The merger is a long-awaited move by Amec to boost its scale after it previously failed with a £700million takeover approach for Kentz, which works on oil and gas services projects across the globe.