WOOD Group has extended its international operations after buying Marine & Offshore Group, an Australian oil and gas safety training company.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed yesterday, but Wood said the company it was buying generated revenue of US$9 million (£4.8m) in the year to 30 June, with earnings before interest and tax of $1.2m and gross assets worth $8.3m.
M&O
is currently active in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Kazakhstan and Nigeria and is in the process of setting up operations in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, Wood said in a statement.
The acquired company will retain its name, with Rick Parish staying on as chief executive.
Around 200 staff will be transferred into Wood Group's Engineering & Production Facilities division.
Analysts at Royal Bank of Scotland said the training business should be able to achieve stronger growth by leveraging Wood's international operations than it could have achieved as an independent company.
Wood Group director Les Thomas said M&O had an excellent record of supporting major clients from its nine training facilities.
"We see their services as complementary to and supportive of our international expansion plans," he said.
Separately, Wood said its gas turbine division had been awarded a turnkey contract worth around $36m from East Texas Electric Co-operative to construct and commission the San Jacinto Generating Facility near Shepherd, Texas.
In a statement, Wood said the construction of the San Jacinto facility would be fast-tracked, so that it can be operational during 2009.
Wood Group reports its interim results on Tuesday. Analysts at Evolution Securities are forecasting first-half profit before tax of $180m, a 37 per cent increase year on year, with a strong performance from all three of its divisions.
Shares in the Aberdeen-based company, which joined the FTSE 100 earlier this year, added 5.75 per cent to 437.75p, boosted by a surge in crude oil prices.
The full article contains 329 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
