UK’s Wood Group Agrees to $291M Purchase by UAE-based Sidara

After a couple of yr of a number of affords and protracted negotiations, engineer-contractor Wooden Group agreed Aug. 29 to a $292-million acquisition by Dubai-based Sidara, previously referred to as Dar Group, that the Scotland-based power providers agency mentioned will assist clear up its “near-term liquidity challenges.”

Underneath the deal set to finish within the first half of 2026, Sidara will assume $1.6 billion of Wooden Group debt and supply $450 million in money for the financially strapped agency. The deal adopted the most recent of several time extensions this year to Sidara, which resulted in a significantly cheaper price since negotiations started. 

Wooden Group had reported $5.7 billion in 2024 revenue in February. Sidara ranks at No. 21 on ENR’s record of the Prime 150 International Design Corporations, reporting a complete of $2.6 billion of worldwide income final yr, all based mostly exterior UAE. 

Wooden Group revealed earlier this yr that an unbiased overview of its accounting and company governance has delayed publication of its year-end 2024 outcomes and prompted a separate probe by the UK monetary regulator. Wooden shares have been suspended from buying and selling since Could 1 on the London Inventory Trade.

“The present capital construction of the Wooden Group is unsustainable,” mentioned the corporate board in an announcement. The acquisition “represents the best choice
for its shareholders, collectors and wider stakeholders,” it added, noting that
it intends to “advocate unanimously” that shareholders vote for the proposal.

Chairman Roy Franklin is ready to step down on Jan. 7, 2026, when shareholders will vote on the acquisition, in keeping with the corporate. “It’s the unanimous view of the Wooden Board that that is the best choice for all stakeholders,” he mentioned in an announcement. 

“This transaction permits us to strengthen shopper relationships, broaden into new markets and serve a broader vary of worldwide purchasers,” Sidara CEO Talal Shair mentioned.  “Within the brief time period, our further monetary help will deliver better stability, however our imaginative and prescient is for Wooden to take the lead in power and supplies.” 

He mentioned Wooden Group would turn out to be Sidara’s power and supplies division and intends to retain its model.

“This announcement brings us nearer to finalizing a difficult chapter in Wooden’s historical past,” mentioned CEO Ken Gilmartin. “The acquisition will clear up our near-term liquidity challenges and strengthen the corporate in the long run.”

The acquisition deal adopted Wooden group’s settlement, additionally on Aug. 29, to promote its North American transmission and distribution engineering enterprise for $110 million to power providers agency Qualus because it goals to get rid of non-core companies to chop debt. That deal is ready to shut late this yr, Gilmartin mentioned.