Wood to return $1.7bn after well support sale

14th Feb 2011 07:11

Oil services specialist Wood Group is to return $1.7bn to shareholders after it agreed to sell its Well Support division to US giant GE for $2.8bn cash.Net proceeds are estimated at $2.6bn. For the year ended 31 December 2010, the Well Support Division had revenues of $947.1m and underlying earnings of $128.1m. At 31 December 2010 it had gross assets of $604.7m.The disposal of the Well Support division is part of a strategic switch towards its engineering and operations & maintenance activities in its Engineering & Production Facilities and Gas Turbine Services divisions, the firm said.In December, Wood Group paid $955m (£607m) to buy PSN, which has been merged with Wood's production facilities business."The significant investment programme in Well Support over the years and the expertise and dedication of all our people is reflected in the price achieved," Allister Langlands, chief executive of Wood Group, said.