ABERDEEN oil services company Wood's stock market worth has leapt by more than £300 million today on the back of revelations that it rejected bid approaches from private equity player Apollo Global Management.
Shares were by late afternoon trading around 201p, up by 46.3p or around 30 per cent on the day, raising Wood’s stock market worth by around £320m to £1.39 billion.
The shares, however, remained significantly below the 230p-a-share level Apollo indicated it would be willing to pay.
Wood revealed, in an announcement to the London Stock Exchange after the close on Wednesday, that it had rejected unsolicited bid approaches from Apollo.
It said its board had "engaged on a limited basis" with Apollo, before rejecting the proposals.
Wood told the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday evening: "The board of Wood notes the recent speculation and confirms that it has received three unsolicited, preliminary and conditional proposals from Apollo Global Management Inc, regarding a possible cash offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Wood.
"The most recent approach was received on 26 January 2023 and proposed a cash offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Wood at a price of 230 pence per Wood share...The board carefully considered each of the proposals, together with its financial advisers, and has engaged on a limited basis with Apollo. The board unanimously rejected each of the proposals, having concluded that they each significantly undervalued the repositioned group's prospects."
Shares in Wood had finished 3.7p higher on Wednesday at 154.7p.
Wood said on Wednesday: "Any offer for Wood is governed by the Code (The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers). Under Rule 2.6(a) of the Code, Apollo must, by not later than 5.00pm on 22 March 2023, either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Wood in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies. This deadline can be extended with the consent of the Panel (the Takeover Panel) in accordance with Rule 2.6(c) of the Code."
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