Monday 09 October 2017 10:41 am

Wood Group completes £2.2bn takeover of Amec Foster Wheeler

Wood Group has completed its merger with Amec Foster Wheeler, the FTSE-250-listed oilfield services firm announced today.

The £2.2bn takeover had been held up by the Competition and Markets Authority, but the regulator waved the deal through in September after Amec Foster Wheeler agreed to sell some North Sea assets.

The integration of the two businesses is “well progressed”, according to Robin Watson, chief executive of the Aberdeen-headquartered firm, who described the buy as a “transformational acquisition”.

"We become a business of significant scale and enhanced capability delivering services across a broader range of geographies and sectors,” he said.

Ian McHoul, the former Amec chief finance officer who stepped up as interim boss after the departure of Samir Brikho, joined the Wood Group board, along with former Amec non-executive directors, Linda Adamany and Roy Franklin.

The top three positions on the newly merged company are all from the Wood Group side of the deal, with Watson joined by chief financial officer David Kemp and chairman Ian Marchant.

Bankers at JP Morgan and Credit Suisse advised on the deal.

Watson said expects 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.”

Wood Group operates in more than 60 countries, employing around 55,000 people, with revenues of over $11bn.