John Wood Group PLC's (LSE:WG.) board said it is minded to accept a reduced possible offer of 30p per share from Dubai suitor Sidara, which has now completed its due diligence.
Sidara has confirmed its intention to make a firm offer for the energy industry services group once all pre-conditions are satisfied.
Wood explained that Sidara lowered their conditional offer to acquire the company upon completion of due diligence, having come in with a offer of 35p in April.
The deadline to announce a firm intention or withdraw has now been extended to 5pm on Thursday, 28 August.
Wood confirmed that commercial alignment has been reached with its lenders on the proposed refinancing terms and work is ongoing on the publication of its audited 2024 accounts.
Under its April proposal, Sidara said WG must extend and amend its existing borrowing facilities, including previous covenant waivers secured when the engineer said an independent investigation had found "material" holes in its accounts.
The shares remain suspended.
"Shareholders are likely to be disappointed (but not surprised) at Sidara lowering its offer price," said analysts at Panmure Liberum.
"Given global economic uncertainty and the unsettling impact of US tariffs, the near term outlook remains challenging."
Sidara was in talks with Wood last summer about a possible offer at around 230p per share, before the Dubai-based engineer walked away, citing "rising geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty at this time".
** Update: Details, broker comment added **