Wood Group surges after rejecting £1.4bn takeover proposal from Sidara

Wood Group surged on Wednesday after saying it had rejected a 205p a share takeover proposal from Dubai-based engineering and consulting company Sidara, valuing it at more than £1.4bn.

Responding to press speculation, Wood Group said the proposal was received on 30 April.

"The board carefully considered the proposal, together with its financial advisers, and concluded that it fundamentally undervalued Wood and its future prospects," it said. "Accordingly, the board rejected the proposal unanimously on 8 May 2024."

The company said there can be no certainty that any offer will be made, nor as to the terms of any such offer, should one be made.

At 1325 BST, the shares were up 12.4% at 185.51p. Shares hit as high as 207.80p earlier after Bloomberg reported that Sidara was exploring a potential acquisition of the group.

Last May, US private equity firm Apollo Global pulled plans to make a takeover offer for Wood Group after making five cash bids for the company - the last in April at 240p a share - all of which were rejected.