John Wood Group PLC (LSE:WG.), the FTSE 250 engineering and consulting group, has turned down a takeover offer from its Dubai-based rival Sidara.
Sidara's offer valued the group at over £1.4 billion, or 205p per share, representing more than a 25% premium to Wood's opening price on Wednesday.
In response to the bid, the Scottish company said Sidara had "fundamentally undervalued Wood and its future prospects”.
Shares in Wood Group rallied close to 13% on the back of the news.
Sidara has until 5pm on June 5 to present an improved offer.
Wood's response is hardly surprising as it rejected an offer worth 240p per share from private equity firm Apollo in April 2023.
In all, Apollo made four approaches to buy the engineer.