Wood Group to sell Built Environment consulting business for $1.9bn

John Wood Group has agreed to sell its Built Environment consulting business to WSP for around $1.9bn.

The company said on Wednesday that proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce net debt and strengthen the balance, and "provide financial flexibility" to deliver its strategy. The deal is expected to complete in the second half of the year.

Chief executive Robin Watson said: "We are very pleased to have agreed this sale with WSP. This transaction will deliver significant value for our shareholders and marks a new chapter for Wood. It enables us to move onto our next strategic phase with the financial flexibility to accelerate our strategy to capture the growth opportunities ahead across both energy security and sustainability.

"We are focused now on the steps to complete this deal and in further developing our strategy, which we will outline in detail at a capital markets day, when my successor as chief executive is in place."

Wood Group also said that the outlook for this financial year remains unchanged and that excluding the impact of this sale, it expects higher revenue in 2022 across the business, supported by order book growth.

"Excluding the proceeds from the sale of our Built Environment business, we expect no improvement in net debt in 2022 compared to 2021," it said. "The typical working capital outflow in our business in the first half is expected to lead to net debt being higher at 30 June 2022 than at 31 December 2021."