Latest news with #Sidara
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wood Group races to finalise Sidara deal by end of June
Wood Group, the troubled London-listed oil services company, is racing to finalise a cut-price takeover by a Gulf-based rival by the end of the month. Sky News has learnt that Wood and Sidara, its UAE-based suitor, are to request an extension to a 'put up or shut up' deadline on Thursday for the latter to make a firm offer. The joint request to the Takeover Panel, which is expected to be granted, is likely to involve a shorter extension than the maximum 28 days allowed under City rules, reflecting the companies' confidence that a deal will be agreed. Money latest: Wood and Sidara are aiming to get a binding transaction agreed by 30 June, when a waiver of Wood's lending covenants is due to expire, according to industry insiders. A public statement is likely to be made on Thursday. Sidara tabled a 35p-a-share offer for Wood in April which valued the Aberdeen-based target at just over £242m. It came less than a year after it proposed a deal worth about £1.5bn, after which Wood's shares collapsed in the wake of revelations about its past financial results and corporate governance. Read more from Sky News:Unemployment rate highest in four years The company's shares have been suspended since the beginning of last month. Wood was also the subject of an earlier takeover approach from Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm. A spokesman for Wood declined to comment.
Sky News
4 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News
Wood Group races to finalise Sidara deal by end of June
Wood Group, the troubled London-listed oil services company, is racing to finalise a cut-price takeover by a Gulf-based rival by the end of the month. Sky News has learnt that Wood and Sidara, its UAE-based suitor, are to request an extension to a 'put up or shut up' deadline on Thursday for the latter to make a firm offer. The joint request to the Takeover Panel, which is expected to be granted, is likely to involve a shorter extension than the maximum 28 days allowed under City rules, reflecting the companies' confidence that a deal will be agreed. Wood and Sidara are aiming to get a binding transaction agreed by 30 June, when a waiver of Wood's lending covenants is due to expire, according to industry insiders. A public statement is likely to be made on Thursday. Sidara tabled a 35p-a-share offer for Wood in April which valued the Aberdeen-based target at just over £242m. It came less than a year after it proposed a deal worth about £1.5bn, after which Wood's shares collapsed in the wake of revelations about its past financial results and corporate governance. The company's shares have been suspended since the beginning of last month. Wood was also the subject of an earlier takeover approach from Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm.
Zawya
22-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Dar Ventures invests in Pi Labs' latest built environment technology-focused fund
Dar Ventures – the UAE-based venture capital (VC) arm of Dar, a world‑class design and engineering consultancy and the founder of the award-winning top 10 international design collaborative Sidara – has invested in Pi Labs' latest built environment technology fund, enhancing its exposure to start-ups at the cutting edge of innovation in real estate, construction, infrastructure, and related services. Pi Labs' fourth institutional fund, which is targeting a £100 million close, will invest in up to 50 pre-seed to Series A companies with the potential to scale globally at pace. The fund is focusing on the new wave of AI-native start-ups developing the most compelling technology solutions to challenges across the global built environment, such as making construction more sustainable and efficient, building healthier or more liveable cities, optimising architecture, engineering, construction and property management and reducing carbon footprints of commercial assets. Pi Labs has identified several long-term secular trends shaping the future of the built world, including how next generation AI and robotics will transform logistics, data centres, residential development, city planning and construction material supply chains. The VC acts as a gateway between real estate owners, operators, construction firms, and service providers and the technology start-ups transforming the sector. Dar Ventures joins Pi Labs' global LP network which comprises blue-chip real estate investors and developers. The network includes Dutch pension fund APG; Abu-Dhabi based Aldar; UK and European institutions such as Patrizia, Assura, Revcap, Helical, and Sellar; and investors and developers from further afield such as the Indian developer Embassy Group, Hong Kong developer Swire Properties, and Canada's Hopewell Group. Since launching in 2015, Pi Labs has amassed a $2 billion portfolio comprising almost 100 companies, making it the world's most active early-stage property technology-focussed VC. It has fully exited its first fund, which delivered a 10x gross return to investors and outperformed the top decile of VC funds between 2015-2023. The VC has delivered 17 company exits to date, having identified and backed firms such as LandTech and OfficeRnD at an early stage in their global growth journeys. Faysal Shair, Director and Co-Founder of Dar Ventures Said: "As leaders within the global AEC industry, Dar and Sidara have always been committed to driving innovation that empowers communities through more sustainable, more resilient, and more welcoming built environments. As such, Dar Ventures' purpose is to support innovators who are confronting the world's most critical challenges, and in doing so, shaping a more sustainable, resilient and digitally enabled built environment for everyone. By investing in Pi Labs' latest fund, we can leverage our extensive AEC expertise and exposure to foster, guide, and empower the next wave of AI breakthroughs in the built world, in particular, the application of LLMs to each aspect of the real estate value chain. Through this strategic partnership with Pi Labs, we hope to continue tackling the sector's biggest challenges, including decarbonisation and resource efficiency, in order to accelerate technologies that redefine how the built environment is designed, delivered and operated." Faisal Butt, Managing Partner and Founder of Pi Labs, said: 'Real estate is the world's largest asset class and faces several challenges such as labour shortages, sustainability targets, resource scarcity and costly inefficient manual processes. The good news is that this new AI wave has created multiple AI-native startups for pretty much every industry pain point. The challenge will be identifying winners and backing them at an early stage to expand into global markets. With the support of this initial closing from Dar Ventures and Sidara, and our other LPs, we are confident that the next property technology unicorns will be found.' For further information, please contact: FTI Consulting pilabs@ About Pi Labs Pi Labs is an early-stage venture capital firm based in London backing founders who are building the sustainable cities of the future. The firm has made over 90 investments since 2015, across 15 countries, from over three funds, and has delivered 17 exits. Pi Labs' portfolio of globally scalable startups are transforming the built world by building a digital, sustainable future, fit for generations to come. For more information, visit: Neel Bose Director Strategic Communications FTI Consulting +44 (0)7594 889303 200 Aldersgate | Aldersgate Street London | EC1A 4HD | United Kingdom
Press and Journal
19-05-2025
- Business
- Press and Journal
Could a Sidara takeover help crisis-hit Aberdeen firm Wood become engineering giant again?
It's fair to say Aberdeen firm Wood has faced more than a few crises in recent years. Seven years ago, Wood was valued at more than £5 billion and, as part of expansion plans, had just acquired one of its biggest rivals. But numerous issues, including financial reports, inappropriate management pressure and contract problems, have caused a serious downfall. With Wood failing to submit its latest accounts by April 30, shares are currently suspended at 18.2p each, valuing the firm at just £128 million. But, could the tide be about to turn? The engineering giant is the subject of a potential takeover from Dubai-based group Dar Al-Handasah, known as Sidara. A lot has happened at the engineering giant in the past decade. In 2017, Wood purchased Amec Foster Wheeler in a deal worth £2.2bn. It was expected to provide new jobs for the north-east and accelerate its growth strategy by four years. However, that couldn't have been further from the truth. Amec Foster Wheeler brought issues with it, including court cases for contracts and bribery claims. Wood found itself paying out more than £230m in settlements. There was more trouble ahead. Its setbacks had made it a takeover target for rivals and in 2023 Wood faced several bids from Apollo Global Management, which rose as high as 240p per share. But it wasn't to be, and share prices fell by 34% on May 15 to 145p when Apollo pulled the plug. The chaos continued into 2024, starting it by revealing plans to cut 22 jobs in the north-east as speculation mounted it would be exiting Aberdeen. Wood confirmed it would be going nowhere, but neither were its issues. Sidara was founded in 1956 as Dar Al-Handasah, by Kamal Al-Shair and Dr Nazih Taleb, along with three fellow professors from the American University of Beirut. The company has since grown into one of the world's largest privately-owned architecture, engineering and consulting groups. The family-owned business is now run by chief executive Talal Shair and employs around 21,500 people across more than 300 worldwide locations. Sidara boasts a portfolio of 23 firms and its strategies include sustainable infrastructure and global expansion. It has been known to use its strong financial position to pursue troubled but fundamentally sound firms, like Wood. In its last accounts, the group reported a turnover above £2bn for the first half of its 2024 financial year. The potential deal between Wood and Sidara has history, this isn't the first time talks have taken place. In August 2024, another £450m was wiped from Wood's value after another takeover deal fell through. After offering £1.6bn in June, the Dubai-based engineer confirmed to Wood it wouldn't pursue the acquisition. Sidara notified the Aberdeen firm of its decision 'in light of rising geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty'. A couple of weeks later, the group revealed a £756m half year loss, with revenues of £2.1bn down 5% in the six months to June 30. Now, the pair have returned to takeover talks in a deal worth around £242m. And, a spokesman for Wood said: 'The proposed combination of Wood and Sidara would create a leading global engineering consulting company, with enhanced scale, capability and diversification.' Since then, Wood's fortunes haven't changed. In November, its value fell by £500 million after announcing an 'urgent' independent review of its books. The firm agreed to commission an independent review by big-four auditor Deloitte. Still ongoing, the review promised to look at positions on contracts in projects, accounting, governance and controls. These relate to 'exceptional contract write-offs' including the 'exit from lump sum turnkey and large-scale EPC'. And are connected to Wood's hefty near-£750-million loss reported in its half-year report. Since then, Deloitte has identified 'weaknesses and failures' in Wood's financial culture, governance and controls. Wood has also been facing challenges such as the resignation of its chief financial officer, Arvind Balan, over an 'incorrect description of his professional qualifications'. In March, an alarming update to investors said a number of adjustments are expected to be required on its income statements and balance sheets for the past three years. The review also highlighted 'inappropriate management pressure' as well as issues with project contracts. Due to the issues in previous financial statements, its share price is suspended after missing the deadline of April 30 to post its annual accounts. Sidara has backed out of a deal to buy Wood before, so you would pardon any sceptics of a future deal. The Aberdeen firm presents a huge financial risk, with its share price dropping by more than 97% since 2017. If Sidara was to pull out of another takeover deal, it could be catastrophic for Wood and its share price could crumble again. And there is only so much it can crumble before Wood becomes worthless. With the ongoing Deloitte review already finding several errors, Wood has not ruled out the possibility of more being uncovered. First of all, Sidara is looking to expand its operations footprint in the west, and such a sizeable company would greatly aid its targets. The firm will also be aware of previous companies, such as Apollo, which have shown interest in the past and, if serious, will want a deal done before it becomes a bidding war. Despite all of the troubles, share price plummets and uncertainties, Wood says it is undergoing a 'transformation'. Chief executive Ken Gilmartin said the company is taking further actions to address the cost base of the business to the right size. And he believes there is light at the end of the tunnel, with a 'very clear route' to a positive cash flow in 2026. Wood can be confident the fundamentals of its company remain strong after increasing its order book to around £5 billion. And it is confident Sidara's long-term strategic commitment can enhance its 'established market-leading position' Wood also believes if the deal gets the go-ahead it could create opportunities for 'sustainable, scalable growth'. The Aberdeen firm will be eyeing a return to its glory days as one the world's most valued engineering firms.
The Herald Scotland
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Middle East firm gets more time to bid for Aberdeen's Wood
The extension is the latest development in a turbulent spell for Wood, which has been a takeover target since 2023, when it received and ultimately rebuffed several approaches from US-based Apollo Management Holdings. Apollo had seemed prepared to pay £1.7 billion for the company before walking away in April 2023. Middle East player Sidara then came to the table in May last year with an approach valuing Wood at around £1.6bn, before it pulled out of the running in August. Sidara re-emerged as a contender this year only this time its approach is significantly less lucrative. Its renewed interest has followed a torrid time for Wood, which has seen its share price fall to historic lows following an independent review commissioned by the company in November, which revealed 'material weaknesses and failures in the group's financial culture within the projects business unit and engagement between group finance and projects'. Shares in the company have been temporarily suspended following a delay in the publication of the group's results for 2024. Read more: Sidara is a large planning, design, engineering and project management group that has used acquisitions to drive growth. On April 14, Wood said that it received a 'holistic non-binding conditional proposal for Sidara' which included a possible cash offer of 35p per share to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company. That would value the struggling Scottish company at about £241 million. 'The board of Wood is continuing to work with Sidara in relation to the pre-conditions to the possible offer set out in that announcement,' Wood said in a stock market announcement today. 'In particular, Wood and Sidara are continuing to engage with Wood's lenders and noteholders in relation to both the debt modifications and the Sidara liquidity arrangements (as defined in that announcement), and Wood is continuing to work with its auditor towards the publication of Wood's audited accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2024. 'The board of Wood has therefore requested, and the [Takeover] Panel has consented to, an extension to the date by which Sidara is required either to announce a firm intention to make an offer for Wood in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the [Takeover] Code or to announce that it does not intend to make an offer, in which case the announcement would be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the code applies. Such announcement must now be made by not later than 5.00pm on 12 June 2025. 'This deadline can be further extended with the agreement of the Board of Wood and the consent of the Panel in accordance with Rule 2.6(c) of the Code. 'Further announcements will be made in due course. In the meantime, shareholders are not required to take any action in relation to the possible offer. 'There continues to be no certainty that an offer will be made by Sidara even if the pre-conditions to the possible offer are satisfied or waived. This announcement is being made with the consent of Sidara."
