Amec Foster Wheeler PLC (LON:AMFW) disclosed after the market close yesterday that the engineering contractor and individuals associated with the business are under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
In a stock exchange statement, the FTSE 250-listed firm said the investigation is focusing on the past use of third parties, bribery, corruption and related offences.
READ: Amec Foster Wheeler confirms the extent of its troubles with 2016 results
AMFW added that it continues fully to co-operate with and assist the fraud agency. The SFO confirmed the investigation in a brief statement on its website.
The company disclosed on May 23 that the SFO had said it my well commence an investigation into AMFW.
The under-pressure firm said the investigation is not expected to have an impact on completion of its planned £2.2bn takeover by mid cap oil services peer John Wood Group PLC (LON:WG.), which is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of this year.
In a response statement today, Wood Group simply noted that, as disclosed by its planned takeover partner, it is “not possible to estimate reliably what effect the outcome of this matter may have on Amec Foster Wheeler.”
In early trading, AMFW and Wood Group shares occupied the top two slots on the FTSE 250 fallers list - AMFW was down nearly 5%, or 22,2p at 432.8p, and Wood Group shed almost 4%, or 24.5p at 598.5p.
Oilfield services firms have been unsettled over the past few months by news of the fraud investigations, with Petrofac PLC’s (LON:PFC) share price plunging by nearly a third in May after it said it had suspended its chief operating officer, Marwan Chedid amid a corruption probe by the SFO.
READ: Petrofac and other oilfield services firms provide a big, black cloud
Chedid’s suspension came after the company’s revelation on May 12 that he, and Petrofac’s chief executive, Ayman Asfari, had been arrested and questioned by police as part of the SFO's ongoing investigation of suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering related to Unaoil, a Monaco-based oil services company.
A circular published in the same month disclosing details of Wood Group's acquisition of its energy support services rival revealed that AMFW is also co-operating with the SFO over its criminal investigation into potential bribery corruption and money laundering.
Meanwhile the circular also said that an internal probe by Wood Group had also revealed that one of its joint ventures made payments to Unaoil.
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