Wood Group forks out £97m to settle historic litigation case
John Wood Group and its energy subsidiary Amec Foster Wheeler Energy are to fork out $115m (£97.6m) to settle a legacy litigation case with US energy services provider Enterprise.
All parties have agreed on the settlement fee, which will be paid in one instalment within the next week, Wood Group announced this morning.
Enterprise filed a lawsuit against London-headquartered Amec Foster Wheeler in 2016 over alleged cost increases and delays on a contract signed in 2013 to engineer and construct a propane dehydrogenation unit in Mont Belvieu, Texas.
Engineering giant Wood inherited the litigation when it bought the company for £2.2bn in October 2017.
This morning’s settlement follows a £103m payout to the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) by Amec Foster Wheeler just last year.
In July 2021, the energy company was forced to pay up as part of a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the SFO, over its use of corrupt agents in the oil and gas sector to secure contracts.
The offences took place around the world between 1996 and 2014, before Amec acquired Foster Wheeler in November 2014 and prior to the combined firm’s acquisition by Wood in 2017.
In a written ruling, the judge who approved the move at the time, Lord Justice Edis, said: “The scale and duration of corrupt practices within Foster Wheeler Energy Limited between 1996 and 2014 amounted to very significant and systemic corruption.
“At all times during this period Foster Wheeler Energy Limited had in place policies which ought to have prevented this from happening, but it has transpired that these policies were not followed.
“Documents were created to conceal the fact that the company had employed agents to channel money to public officials.
“There is no room for doubt about this, because many of the emails exchanged within the company are very transparent.”
The judge added: “It is a matter of great significance in the present context that the widespread and high level culture of criminality, which is accepted to have existed, does not in fact taint the modern company.
“I would not approve a DPA in this case except in circumstances where the company was under new management, and where there is good reason to accept that Wood (John Wood Group) fully intends to ensure that its activity is carried on without corruption in the future.”