OIL services firm Wood Group is now a “global leader” in its field following the completion of its £2.2 billion takeover of rival Amec Foster.
The move came after the latter agreed to offload the majority of its North Sea operations.
The deal will see Amec bank £228 million for selling its upstream oil and gas operations to Australian firm WorleyParsons as part of a move to address competition concerns.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had expressed fears that the takeover by the Aberdeen-based giant gave rise to antitrust issues surrounding the supply of engineering and construction services, as well as operation and maintenance services in the North Sea. In 2016, Amec’s North Sea business contributed revenues of £740 million and a trading profit of £43 million.
The move to sell the assets off effectively cleared the way for the completion of the takeover.
Wood Group chief executive Robin Watson said: “This transformational acquisition creates a global leader in the delivery of project, engineering and technical services to energy and industrial markets.
“We expect to deliver significant cost synergies and incremental revenue synergies in a less cyclical business which retains a predominantly reimbursable, asset light model with a balanced risk appetite.”
When first announcing the takeover in March, Wood Group, which operates in 60 countries and has revenues of more than £11bn, said it will result in “significant cost and revenue synergies” of at least £110m a year.
Wood Group employs 29,000 people while Amec has 35,000 workers and the new entity would be valued at around £5 billion.
Watson added: “We become a business of significant scale and enhanced capability, delivering services across a broader range of geographies and sectors, differentiated by the quality of our people, enabling technology and know-how.
“Wood is better placed to serve customers than ever before, with a more comprehensive range of capabilities and the potential to deliver efficient integrated solutions with fewer customer interfaces.
“We expect to deliver significant cost synergies and incremental revenue synergies in a less cyclical business which retains a predominantly reimbursable, asset light model with a balanced risk appetite.
“Our integration planning is well progressed and we have ensured that appropriate risk management and control processes are in place from day one.
We have a clear organisational structure, my executive leadership team and their direct reports have been announced and we are now focusing on implementing a best of both approach for the wider organisation.”
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