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Absent any evidence of a counterbid - the shares are likely to open lower than 25p even if the shorters decide to close. The discoun to the offer price is likely to reflect two things - residual uncertainty that the deal will go through and the time value of money given the long run in to completion. Of course any sniff of a bid and we are off to the races

Glad to see y ou have not changed your view @Ice - I commend you for consistency. I have not done a forensic analysis of the company accounts but tangible net assets appear to be -£1.5bn and clearly shareholders funds cannot support the current level of debt. I think that believing that lenders will just cough up the necessary funds to a new Wood management to continue as an independent company is frankly complete rubbish. The current state of the company cannot support the existing debt load and lender are not going to support further funding without a significant fresh injection of capital. That is not possible at the price it is likely to take place and would not get underwritten. That leaves a debt for equity swap as the only viable route, assuming lenders had the confidence in new manaagement to do this. This is why - absent an alternative bid (see below) Wood's management are totally correct that this is the best possible option for shareholders. If you disagree @Ice then tell us all how this company gets recapitalised as it surely must do.

We all read about the tentative approaches which have come to nothing. What is unclear is whether those that were interested were given access to any non public information. I would guess not as they did not seem to have made anything other than very tentative approaches. The next two weeks will tell us whether we will see a rival bid. The one good/important piece of positive news from the accounting mess was that the order book has held up well and based on this I would have to agree that Sidara's offer looks lowish. So there is still some hope. However absent an alternative bidder Sidara is the only game in town and an independent future is extremely wishful thinking which in my view is impossible to contemplate based on the financial state of Wood.

I think the Accounts will show just why Sidara is only prepared to pay 30p. The delay has probably been caused by haggling between the Auditors and Board. @ice appears to think that the delay is because the figures are good and do not justify the low ball offer. While I would of course like him to be right, I think the opposite and the delay is haggling with Auditors to prevent even greater write downs. In any event, expect a going concern statement should the Sidara bid fall through ie no going concern if it does. Newer management do of course have an incentive to kitchen sink everything and I expect that @Ice will use this argument if the figures are really bad - so I thought that I would pre-empt hime :)

@James Oxford is entirely correct. While any potential bidder might have been doing some background/desk top work, this would not take them very far until they access to the audited accounts. Only then would they be able to assess whether it was worth intervening, which as JO rightly states , would also need to involve a financing package acceptable to lenders. While a probability of a counterbid is low, it is not entirely absent. To make it worth the bother, it would likely need to be above 35p but I have no real idea until I can see the Accounts. So from a timing perspective, I agree with JO that it will be a week or two after the Accounts have been published that we will know if there is an alternative bidder and hopefully just before the Scheme vote next month.

Going back many months now, the uber bulls on this Board - you know who they are - kept arguing with me that Wood was worth a lot more than the bid as the Company had said in a statement that the ability to generate future cash flow had not been affected by the accounting error. What they failed to appreciate or would not see is that there was a huge difference between ABILITY to generate future cash flow and QUANTUM of future cash flows. It is the massive write down of anticipated cash flows on mistated contracts that has severly impacted on the QUANTUM of future cash flows and therefore led to the massive write downs to tangible NAV that we are about to see.

Long at 26p!

I have stayed off this Bulletin Board for a while. I am long the stock at about 30p. At this stage I would be happy just to take that profit. I have always maintained that the market was not that wrong. People exiting at any price as they did not want to get locked in for months. I have also consistently said that some of the very bullish share price assumptions by @Ice and others were very likely to be wrong. It now appears that tangible net assets have been hammered as a result of fantasy accounting on historic contracts. Again this is no surprise to me. Hopefully the vote on the waiver will go through. Even if it does the Accounts will still contain a statement on the risk to Wood continuing as a going concern if Sidara walks away. I suspect @Ice will be his usual bullish self and suggest that even if the vote for the waiver did not go through everything would still be ok!

If there are any alternative bidders in the wings, then the publication of the Accounts will bring them out. If nothing is heard within a couple of weeks of the Accounts being published, then it is 30p or nothing!

There is a very slight chance of a counterbid depending on the Accounts and the extent to which counterbidders want to rely on them - I guess they should given the time they had taken to produce. Hundreds of millions of pounds have already been spent on advisory fees and so any bidder is going to want to see considerable upside from the 30p valuation if they are to enter the process. I have always said that (a) if any alternative bidder had approached Wood during the recent months that would be a disclosable event. So no news means that there have been nothing that can be deemed to constitute an approach. (b) I have also said that it made no sense whatsoever for any alternative bidder to show its hands until the Accounts were published and they knew Sidara's formal offer. I am sure institutions would like to see a counter offer. IF ICE you are correct in your views that Wood is worth considerably more than Sidara's offer then you should attach a very high probability to a counter offer. I think that there is still a chance of a counter bid but it is a pretty low one.

Ice - I am not sure why you are referencing the historical bids. At that time the Board was seemingly unaware - though clearly should have been - that they were sitting on a pile of crap. Historical figures are meaningless if the real numbers are massively lower, especially in Balance Sheet terms. The level of debt may be similar to where we are now and there have been some disposals. Unfortunately the future value of contracts has apparently taken a massive hit so that what Wood's Balance Sheet could have supported in the past and what it can support now are a million miles apart - hence the need for the refinancing/cash injection - something which I believe you always said was unecessary. So there is in fact no disconnect between the rejection of the historically much higher bid and the acceptance of the 30p now as they are based on an entirely different financial situation. So to claim that history is somehow a basis for assessing the current bid value is plainly rather silly.

I was clear that the 18p suspension price vs the conditional offfer of 35p was due in part to investors not want to get locked in when the share were suspended. So we agree at least on that point. However, if I track back through your posts, you wre consistently suggesting that the 35p was rediculously low in relation to the value of Wood. What we are now facing is the reality that the 35p offer was actually high! No doubt you will push back on the numerous advisers which have now indicated that 30p is the best offer in the circumstance. If there was much higher value in Wood then I am afraid that both the Board and its advisers could not have accepted 30p period. Perhaps there is a debate over a few pence, but this leaves what is on the table way way adrift from what you have been telling everyone on this BB that the share were worth. Of course people should not listen to you and make their ownd decisions - another point that we probably agree on - but for some impressionable and let's say less analytical punters it still led them astray.

I am in at an average of lowish 20ps so will be satisfied, though far from ecstatic if the deal goes through at 30p. I certainly do NOT see institutions voting this down absent an alternative bid. The solo option is dead in the water - at least that is what I think

I am very surprised @Ice that you are still pedalling that rubbish about it all being a conspiracy by the Board of Wood rather than accepting what appears to be the reality (accepting that we will not "really know " until the Accounts are published) that Wood is in a dire financial position and probably has significant negative net worth. Neither you nor I know whethr 30p is the right figure but it is in any event a far cry from the sort of figures that you have peddled. Basically the market pre suspension was basically right only that those that did not want to get locked in for a year or so were willing to get out at any price. Directionally however a suspension price of around 18p vs a potential conditional offer price of 35p at the time, told you all you needed to know.

Perhaps we can at last stop hearing from @Ice and some others how wonderful life would be if Wood was left alone as an independent entity and how shareholders would be far better off under any scenario. Today's announcement finally kills off the arguments of all those who thought Wood was still a great franchise with a great independent future. I hope those who have been spouting such rubbish over recent months and postulating share prices of 2,3 or more times the offer price will now have the humility to accept how utterly wrong they were. Despite @Ice's misinformation earlier today I have always been long of Wood to a material degree and will make a very small profit if the deal does eventually go through at 30p. Given the mess that has now been revealed I unfortunately feel that a rival bid is less than a 5% chance.

@Ice you have got this wrong throughout as everyone on this Board knows. You were going on how Wood was worth some fantastic price as its shares were falling daily. I am not surprised therefore that you have labelled me as a shorter despite the fact that I have never been short and have been significantly long throughout. Just another thing you have got wrong!

Nice announement this morning on a further disposal. The proceeds are helpful but would be insufficient on their own if Sidara walked away. Although they will provide some comfort to lenders, I would still expect a refinancing and some sort of equity injection if Sidara walked. And I am firmly in the camp that this would be pretty negative. Depending on what assumptions you make, the disposals to date might be slightly negative for overall earnings (as distinct from cash flow) and could explain a tiny proportion of the reduction in Sidara's offer price.

@Ice. I think Plan B would involve either a massive debt for equity swap and/or a very dilutive rights issue. Many months ago the Board refused to rule out an equity issue on an investor call. I suspect that net asset value has been hammered, it might even be negative after the adjustment but even if not an equity issue is almost certain. So sorry, you have been very very optimistic throughout the months of this deal - too put it politely - and if you think Plan B is better option for shareholder then I would say that you are wrong again!

I would be astonished if Sidara walked away having spent so much time and money on due diligence. They might try and make the excuse of the FSA investigation but I doubt it.

I am unsure what the benefit to Sidara is of waiving the precondition of the publication of the Accounts. They must be awful and perhaps they have been major disputes between management and auditors over the nature and scale of adjustment, but they should not be taking so long and if they were near to publication then that would have been disclosed in the RNS.

I doubt shareholders would agree to vote on this deal without seeing the Accounts but you never know. Sidara clearly has the upper hand, funding is agreed, although the current waiver extension expires at the end of the month, the offer price has had some sort of approval from the Board. I guess waiving the condition on the publication of the Accounts would just add some pressure on shareholders. And without the Accounts no other bidder is going to emerge. I am guessing that Sidara will waive the condition on the Accounts and we will get a firm offer this evening. Otherwise it makes no sense to extend the PUSUP by just three days.

If Sidara had bought shares in the market then beyond a certain small level this would have had to be disclosed. Wood clearly has a value to Sidara but not much. They can't keep Wood on the Stockmarket unless they hold less than a majority stake. No logic to keeping Wood on the market as no advantage to them only costs.

It is amazing how many firm opinions there are on this BB without any of us knowing anything about the financial position of Wood. The only people who do are Sidara having spent months on due diligence and the Wood Board. All I think that we do know is that the Accounts must look terrible. Many moons ago I argued against Ice and others who pointed out that Wood had said that the issues would not affect the ability of the company to generated cash in the future. Many latched onto this as an indicator that Wood was being sold very cheaply. I pointed out at the time and do so again today, that these statements said nothing about the AMOUNT of cash that would be generated in the future as distinct from the ABILITY to generate cash. While I am as much in the dark as others on the numbers, the fact that the Board has given a green light to a 30p offer suggests that the writedowns of historically overstated contracts will have a material detrimental impact on the AMOUNT of cash that had been previously expected. Given that the value of a company is often expressed as the present value of future cash flows, the value of Wood has been hammered, which just don't know by precisely how much.

I expect Sidara to waive the precondition of the publication of the Accounts but still strongly believe that shareholders must be shown these accounts before any vote on the deal. It is only when audited accounts are published will we have the full picture of the value of the deal and, more importantly, when anyone waiting in the wings will show their hand,

For those who might not have seen previous posts, I am pretty long of Wood at an average price fractionally below the revised offer.

I don't agree with @Ice on much and he has been over optimistic throughout, but I agree that the Accounts are not imminent or I think that fact would need to have been mentioned. Sidara is likely to waive the requirement for the Accounts to be published as that puts it even more in the driving seat. However, I do think it would be scandalous for the offer to proceed without everyone seeing the Accounts.

I have no idea why the Accounts have taken so long. If they were due to be published imminently then I think this would have to have been stated in the RNS. Agree fully with @Ice that Sidara would be foolish NOT to waive the precondition on the Accounts as if the Accounts were published it would at least give alternative bidder a chance to consider an offer. Without them no one is going to do months and months of due diligence and sort out funding. It would be very unlikely for any bidder to take a complete flyer and launch an offer blind or in essance relying that Sidara had done a good job.

So if they wave the precondition on the Accounts then the offer is going to be made. This suggests that either the Accounts are imminent, which I don't think is the case, or more likely that having done months of due diligence themselves, they will rely on this. Tactically this also makes it far harder for any other bidder to come in.

legally binding agreement(s) in a form satisfactory to Sidara being entered into in respect of the Debt Modifications and the Sidara Liquidity Arrangements (as defined below);

b) the publication of Wood's audited accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2024;

c) the unanimous recommendation of such Offer by the Wood Board of Directors and irrevocable undertakings from such directors who hold Wood shares to vote in favour of the Offer;

d) completion of Sidara's due diligence; and

e) final approval of the Sidara Board of Directors