Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - John Wood Group PLC is facing a call from a large shareholder to explore a sale, Sky News reported on Monday evening.
Roy Franklin, the chair of the Aberdeen, Scotland-based engineering and consulting business, is said to have received a letter from Sparta Capital Management Ltd, indicating dissatisfaction with John Wood's share price.
https://news.sky.com/story/engineer-wood-group-faces-sparta-call-to-explore-sale-13116045
Sparta is understood by Sky to be a top-ten shareholder in John Wood. Bloomberg back in December 2022, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Sparta is a top-10 shareholder in the company.
The letter is said to encourage John Wood to engage with any suitable bidders if John Wood concludes that shareholder value will be maximised through a sale of the company.
In May last year, a GBP1.7 billion takeover bid by Apollo Management Holdings LP collapsed.
Apollo announced a fifth proposal in early April 2023 to acquire John Wood for 240 pence per share in cash. The offer represented a 59% premium to John Wood's closing price of 151p per share at the time, and a 20% premium to the initial proposal of 200p per share.
John Wood shares closed 0.3% higher at 140.40 pence each on Monday in London. They are 38% lower than a year prior and 71% lower than five years ago.
Last month, John Wood reported revenue in 2023 rose 7.9% to USD5.90 billion from USD5.47 billion. Its pretax loss narrowed to USD62.7 million from USD691.4 million. Further, it lifted its outlook and announced a "simplification programme" to trim costs.
Sparta in the letter noted operational achievements by John Wood over the last 18 months since it launched a new corporate strategy, but said that if the UK public markets are unwilling to engage, it should seek alternative solutions.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
